Fuel Cell

We have all been concerned over the lack of, or seemingly slow, development in sources of Alternative Energy. Well, amid fanfare and pomp, we have just experienced the launch of a fuel cell, named The Bloom Box, developed and manufactured by Bloom Energy of California.

Fuel cells are not new. They have been around for 150+ years in one form or another. They are devices that convert fuel into electricity through an electro-chemical process rather than combustion and are like batteries except that they always run.

To date, most cells have utilized hydrogen and expensive, hard to get metals in their make up. The costs of these materials resulted in the impractical day to day application of the fuel cell.

Bloom claims to have solved this dilemma by producing their patented solid oxide fuel cell (see www.bloomenergy.com). Each cell is a flat solid ceramic square made from a common sand-like powder. They claim their "particular type of fuel cell technology is different than legacy ‘hydrogen’ fuel cells in four main ways:

Low cost materials – At the heart of every Energy Server™ is Bloom's patented solid oxide fuel cell technology;
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."

The Bloom Box is a mini power plant based on fuel cell technology. Fuel cells use an electrochemical (not thermal) process to separate the protons and electrons of the fuel and then pass the electrons through a circuit to generate electricity. At the end of the process, the protons and electrons recombine along with oxygen. If the fuel is pure hydrogen, the emissions will be pure water, but if the fuel is a hydrocarbon, emissions will also contain carbon dioxide.

Bloom combines thousands of their fuel cells into an Energy Server™ designed for each unique application. They, reportedly, currently have customers in Google, Walmart, E-Bay, Staples and FedEx Express.

While the Bloom Box is no doubt a step in the right direction in the ongoing search for the ultimate energy supply, other sources should be considered to deal with the scope of the oncoming energy crisis. It’s very possible that signs may point to nuclear as a viable option.

It’s plain that technology on the fuel cell, and for that matter all of the Alternative Energy arena, is moving at a very rapid pace. One thing for sure, only a venture capital firm with ties to Silicon Valley, California could coordinate the media blitz, the star-studded unveiling, and wow the socks off the media, surrounding Bloom Energy!

I urge all entrepreneurs and investors to do their due diligence, and progress at, or at least, the same speed (or if you want to excel, be among the first). One good source of info covering fuel cells is www.fuelcells.org.

To your success,

Cal

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