…sand!
Sridhar explained that the sand could be baked in a process he calls “powder to power” to form fuel cells without having to use corrosive metals. The idea would be to take a stack of the resulting fuel cells and stack them to form modules and systems that could power things with amazing efficiency. (The stack that Sridhar is holding in the first image in the slideshow can supposedly power a house).
So how will this change the world? Sridhar explained that Bloom Box technology will be “twice as efficient as U.S. grid. Need half the fuel of grid. Half traditional fuels.” In terms of the amount of space we could save using the Bloom Box, he said “Think of the stack as a chip. Take a bunch of the stacks, put together in a box, about the size of a refrigerator and its about the size of powering a small coffee shop.”
Now, as we mentioned when we wrote about the Bloom Box, saying that it can change the world is quite a big claim to live up to. However, this unveiling gives us a more concrete picture of how the Bloom Box operates, and the fact that companies like Wal-Mart and eBay (who both have representatives participating in the panel discussion immediately following Sridhar’s presentation is a good sign. Stay tuned for more updates about this fascinating breakthrough.
Via CNET and Earth2Tech
I am very interested in how the power grid and energy market will adapt to new technologies like the Bloom Box. Here is an op-ed piece I have written about it:
Why technologies like the Bloom Box will trigger Google Energy to move from non-profit into big business:
http://www.thinksketchdesign.com/2010/02/22/design/green-design-design/why-technologies-like-the-bloom-box-will-trigger-google-energy-to-move-from-non-profit-into-big-business
This is an improved diesel generator, less pollution, more efficient, but needs to run at near-constant load to operate at peak efficiency because of the requirement for high-temperature steam.
There are many application for this technology but this is not a renewable energy solution. Certainly good for data centers that require constant and available power.
@uiteoi
Who says it’s not a renewable energy option? Whoever told you that, didn’t know what they were talking about. It will run off of Hydrogen, and Methane–both of which are completely renewable. But we really don’t even need to worry about renewing any time soon, as we’ve already got an abundant supply of Methane (natural gas) in the ground, and being created by our landfills, on a daily basis.
Not to mention bio fuels, and other options.
Is this “THE answer”? No. Is there a “THE answer”? No.
It’s AN answer, which will become part of an overall solution.
I can see the power companies working to keep the cost of this technology high so only they will be able to purchase large banks of boxes for the purpose of selling the electricity back to the community. It would be nice to envision three or four of these in every home providing the power, or at least supplementing it for heating/cooling and appliance use, but something always seems to come up that prevents such hopeful scenarios from coming to fruition to protect big business.
[...] ‘green’ development that eBay has launched – the auction giant also adopted a Bloom Energy fuel cell earlier this year and opened a green data [...]