The Bloom Box: An Energy Breakthrough? Customers Say Energy Machine Works & Saves Money (Important!)

CBS News ^

[MindBender26]

(CBS) In the world of energy, the Holy Grail is a power source that's inexpensive and clean, with no emissions. Well over 100 start-ups in Silicon Valley are working on it, and one of them, Bloom Energy, is about to make public its invention: a little power plant-in-a-box they want to put literally in your backyard.

You'll generate your own electricity with the box and it'll be wireless. The idea is to one day replace the big power plants and transmission line grid, the way the laptop moved in on the desktop and cell phones supplanted landlines.

It has a lot of smart people believing and buzzing, even though the company has been unusually secretive - until now.

K.R. Sridhar invited "60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl for a first look at the innards of the Bloom box that he has been toiling on for nearly a decade.

[P8riot]

bump for later read

[Wonder Warthog]

Pretty much hype. As near as I can tell, this is just another solid oxide fuel cell. I think I need to see more info on precisely what the “breakthroughs” supposedly are.

[LiberConservative]

Interesting story. I'm not sure I buy it yet, though. But I watched the video and any chance I get to see Lesley Stahl is time well spent. This 50-something guy thinks she is yummy.

[Wonder Warthog]

"It is a fuel cell. Water is the final product."

Only if the fuel source is pure hydrogen. Since they are using various hydrocarbons (or other carbon-containing fuels, there WILL also be CO2 emissions). The sole advantage of SOFC's of this sort is that they are way more efficient than conventional steam and/or gas turbine generating plants.

[edpc]

This is probably a better solution in the interim. It's the most practical, since......

It's basic biology. Tiny bacteria at the sewage plant eat organic waste and emit methane gas. The gas is captured and converted to electricity. The electricity is used to power the sewage plant.

Akron put a system like this online last December to process one-third of the sludge going through its wastewater treatment plant and is finding success: The city is saving about 15 percent on its electricity bill.

Akron's methane-powered sewage plant is the only system of its kind in the United States. But other cities, including Solon and Canton, now are looking to follow Akron's lead.

Use of this biological process to create energy from waste should gain momentum within the next five to 10 years, predicted Jim Currie of Ohio State University. That's because conventional ways of disposing of waste are becoming too expensive and our appetite for new fuel sources is increasing, said Currie, program director of BioHio at OSU's Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Why does the supposed self-contained power source need a secondary power source to get it running? "

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC's) have to be brought up to a compararatively high temperature before the electrical conductivity of the oxide electrolyte drops to a level low enough to function.

[silverleaf]

ditto that

Algor’s conglomerate and associates will find a way to lock up any invention that threatens their wealth and power. Thats what Al’s real “lock box” is about.

[Wonder Warthog]

"I recall a similarly researched piece on 60 minutes about cold fusion some years ago...years later found to be a fabrication."

Actually, "cold fusion" is alive and doing quite well these days. The claims have been reproduced repeatedly in reputable labs.

[The Wizard]

“This Island Earth” what a great line, but I believe, just like Algea Oil, this is the future.

[whd23]

This is an incredible story from 60 Minutes last evening. This is not some off-the-wall National Enquirer story. This is a very well researched long-form news piece.

Was it as well researched as the hit-piece 60 Minutes did on Alar back in the 1980s?

[Michigan Bowhunter]

Interesting story. I do not believe it is far fetched. Some time in the future...maybe 20-100 years from now, this may be a type of product picked up for a few hundred of todays dollars and be smaller. With the advancement of nano-technology I would guess we can produce things like this when we begin to understand how to truly manipulate molecules en-mass. I would love a product like this on my 10 acres as I could have something to power the home and there would be no blackouts when the icestorms came......If there is a portable one, it would make camping a riot! Keep one in your car to use at the beach....good stuff.

[RGSpincich]

"This invention, working on Mars, would have allowed the NASA administrator to pick up a phone and say, 'Mr. President, we know how to produce oxygen on Mars,'" Sridhar told Stahl.
"So this was going to produce oxygen so people could actually live on Mars?" she asked.
"Absolutely," Sridhar replied.

BS Detector Pegging

[Right Wing Assault]

Why does the supposed self-contained power source need a secondary power source to get it running?

The same reason you need a match or spark to light a gas burner or gas grill. The oxygen won't combine with the fuel unless the temperature is raised high enough to start the reaction. Afterward the reaction is self-sustaining as long as the fuel and oxygen comes in.

[Condor51]

Bloom Energy, is about to make public its invention: a little power plant-in-a-box they want to put literally in your backyard. .. You'll generate your own electricity with the box and it'll be wireless.

oh yeah.
Bet it can't touch the Cold Fusion Reactor (CFR) I made in my garage. You want to about cheap energy, well, my little CFR is it.

uh-oh, there's that dang Black Helicopter again. those sobs are really after me this time.
(they're prolly from, 'Big Oil'. that's gotta be it)

[Wonder Warthog]

I agree completely. I think nanostructured materials will give us huge breakthroughs in many areas of technology. It appears that one such has just been made for solar cell efficiency:

http://www.gizmag.com/highly-absorbing-flexible-solar-cells/14232/

[agere_contra]

Kudos to you for a useful analogy!

(Disclaimer: not saying the Bloom box is useful, nor that it isn’t. Just giving praise where praise is due.)

[tiki]

Everyone has thrown out reasons for this recession/depression, I have always believed it was caused by the cost of energy. Yes, people were living above their means in homes they could barely afford, most were right on the edge of affordability in their budgets, living paycheck to paycheck but they were making it, then fuel skyrocketed.

I also believe a cheaper fuel source at this time would lift the whole world out of this quagmire.

[GBA]

I’m surprised systems like this aren’t more common, not just in cities, but also in areas that raise a lot of cattle and hogs. Composting for the organic matter is a good business. Why not add composting for the methane/energy?

[A.A. Cunningham]

secret formula=pixie dust=scam. Sorry, ain't buying it.

Not a scam. Sridhar isn't going to divulge the chemical formula for the anode, cathode and electrolyte on broadcast television and he had to keep things simple because he was, after all, speaking to that nitwit Leslie Stahl.

[wastedyears]

The systems running on landfill waste gasses would necessarily require more waste put in a landfill to maintain it's fuel supply.

Which is why I'm a fan of plasma arc gasification.