So there has been a lot of buzz surrounding the finally unveiled Bloom Energy Server (aka Bloom Box) from Bloom Energy and many people are already heralding this device as the future of power generation and distribution. But what it actually does and does not do may need further clarification both from its continuing real-world tests As well as its maker.
What Is It?
First, for those of you not familiar with this device, here’s a quick summary of the Bloom Energy Server’s seemingly ‘to good to be true’ functions and attributes. Marketed as a ‘mini power station in a box’, the Bloom Energy Server is, in a nutshell, a fuel cell. A reverse engineering of a device created for NASA to produce oxygen on Mars, the Bloom Energy Server combines oxygen and a fuel source to create a reaction that produces electricity. But unlike its exotic and often times extremely complex predecessors, the Bloom Energy Server is comprised of relatively cheap materials, uses solid oxide fuel cells, and can use multiple fuel sources to drive the reactions within the device that produce the electricity. Most of these fuel sources, such as natural gas, bio-gas, solar, etc., are much cleaner fuels with lower (to no) carbon emissions compared to those used in traditional power production facilities such as coal-fired power plants.
It’s also extremely small in comparison to the amount of power it can generate. A Bloom Energy Server roughly the size of a shoebox can produce enough electricity to power an average American home. The Bloom Energy Server is comprised of thin ceramic wafers that contain a special “ink” on either side of them. These wafers, or cells, generate electricity when one side is exposed to oxygen and the other side is exposed to a fuel source such as natural gas. The details of what drives this process, and what makes it possible in the first place, is somewhat obscure at best. This veil of secrecy is entirely intentional seeing as its inventor K.R. Sridhar has been toiling away at the Bloom Energy Server for over 10 years and has $400+ million riding on its success (though most of that isn’t his own money)
UPDATE:
From the info release minutes ago on Bloom Energy’s website, the Energy Server’s atrributes and function are as follows:
Built with our patented solid oxide fuel cell technology, Bloom’s Energy Server™ is a new class of distributed power generator, producing clean, reliable, affordable electricity at the customer site.
Fuel cells are devices that convert fuel into electricity through a clean electro-chemical process rather than dirty combustion. They are like batteries except that they always run. Our particular type of fuel cell technology is different than legacy “hydrogen” fuel cells in four main ways:
- Low cost materials – our cells use a common sand-like powder instead of precious
metals like platinum or corrosive materials like acids. - High electrical efficiency – we can convert fuel into electricity at nearly twice the
rate of some legacy technologies - Fuel flexibility – our systems are capable of using either renewable or fossil fuels
- Reversible – our technology is capable of both energy generation and storage
Each Bloom Energy Server provides 100kW of power, enough to meet the baseload needs of 100 average homes or a small office building… day and night, in roughly the footprint of a standard parking space. For more power simply add more energy servers.
Data sheet can be downloaded here.
Presentation on how the Energy Server’s solid oxide fuel cells really work.
No Free Lunch…Right?
So the Bloom Energy Server is something that can produce a lot of energy, at an inexpensive cost, and in a much cleaner way. That’s the ‘tag line’ at least for the device, but does it really deliver on all three of those claims? The first claim, production of abundant energy, is one that most skeptics would assume to be the most dubious and hard to prove claim when in fact, it’s the opposite. For almost 2 years over 20 different major companies have been using/testing Bloom Energy Servers at their facilities with amazing results. Google, who was the first recipient of 4 Bloom Energy Servers, has used the devices to power an entire data facility; saving the company $100,000 in electricity costs the first nine months of their operation. Other companies such as Wal-Mart, FedEx, and eBay are also using the devices as well. Ebay’s 4 Bloom Energy Servers power 15% of its headquarters in San Jose and actually produce more power than the 3000+ solar panels eBay has strewn across the rooftops of its buildings.
The second claim is that Bloom Energy Servers produce energy at low costs. This claim currently is only half true. While the Bloom Energy Servers’ production of electricity using a fuel source like natural gas is much more efficient (therefore less expensive) than say a gas turbine, the cost of the device itself offsets any savings from its efficiency for several years. Coming in with a price tag around $800,000 per refrigerator sized unit, Bloom Energy Servers are not cheap, nor will become cheap anytime soon as Bloom Energy currently produces about 1 per day. Plans are in the works to mass produce Bloom Energy Servers at a scale that will drive down the cost of home-sized units to $3,000 in 10 years. Unlike traditional fuel cells that use rare and expensive metals like platinum, Bloom Energy Servers’ ceramic discs are made from sand and are much less inexpensive to produce, so the possibility is there for a greatly reduced price from mass production.
The final claim is that the Bloom Energy Server is a ‘clean’ fuel source. Clean is a relative term in this case and when compared to the emissions/pollution produced by a coal-fired or gas-fired power plant producing the equivalent amount of energy as a Bloom Energy Server, the Bloom Energy Server is clean(er), but not entirely clean. It uses about half the amount of natural gas a gas turbine would use to produce the same amount of electricity, but it still is burning natural gas. Sridhar claims the boxes can use solar as well, but doesn’t give any insight into how that would work nor is the mechanism by which such a process could transpire readily apparent given the little details we do know about how the Bloom Energy Servers’ cells produce electricity.
Anyhow, watch the 60 Minutes story below (there’s one 30 second commercial in the beginning). It’s incredibly intriguing and hope inspiring when it comes to what this device may mean to the world if it really works as its advertised. I try to remain skeptical…but it’s tough after watching this.
The Good: A technology that seems to be the beginning of a new technological revolution in energy production and distribution. Much cleaner than current fossil-fuel-powered energy production systems (on a per unit of energy input to energy output basis). Large amount of power produced from a small physical footprint.
The Bad: Extremely expensive. Relies heavily on federal and state clean energy subsidies. Unclear if mass production will drive down the price to a point that’s affordable for most households/businesses.
The Bottom-Line: The Bloom Energy Server could turn out to be the biggest and greatest invention since the computer; or it could turn out to be the biggest letdowns since the Segway. Whatever the ultimate determination given, it’s hard to deny the prospects of an invention that has already been field tested for almost 2 years and is pretty much doing everything its makers say it can can do.
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