Bloom Boxes Unveiled by Bloomenergy
Bloomenergy unveiled its long-awaited fuel cell technology today. This is a story we have been following for some time, and have reported on extensively:
Will Bloom Boxes Make Your Electric Utility Obsolete
Bloom Energy to Unveil Bloom Boxes Wednesday
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According to the Bloomenergy data sheet a Bloom Box, which it now calls an Energy Server, uses either natural gas or directed biogas as fuel. The fuel required at rated power is 0.661 MMBtu/hr of natural gas. Its rated power is 100kw (the claim is that is enough to power 100 homes for base load -- this may actually be too low).
As for emissions, the data sheet states:
| NOx | <0.07 lbs/MW-hr |
| SOx | negligible |
| CO | <0.10 lbs/MW-hr |
| VOCs | <0.02 lbs/MW-hr |
| CO2 @ specified efficiency | 773 lbs/MW-hr on natural gas, carbon neutral on Directed Biogas |
In addition, the fuel cells act not only as an electricity generator, but also as a storage device. So electric power generated by solar or wind, for example, will be integrated with the "Energy Server" to further reduce the carbon footprint.
Moreover, the benefits of distributed generation are a reduction in the cost and complexity of transmission and distribution, the company asserts.
eBay CEO John Donahoe was quoted by Josh Lowenshon as saying that his company installed 65,000 feet os solar panels and powered 18% of its campus. Then, it installed five Bloom Boxes and powers 15% of its campus. Brian Kelly of Coke says the fuel cells are powering 1/3 of ifs Odwall plant; Brian Kelly of Cox indicates that they are powering 70% of its facility in San Francisco; and Bill Simon of Wal Mart says Bloom Boxes are carrying 60-80% of its energy needs at peak in the buildings where they are installed.
Now that we know more details about Bloom Boxes, tell us what you think.
Perhaps I don't understand all of the intricacies of this matter, but on the surface it seems like a really positive advancement in technology!
If large companies are benefiting and using the tech then it will give incentive to other companies to catch up and make it more widely available.
Are these small enough to use as range extenders for an EV?
where are we getting all the natural gas and can we also heat our homes with the bloom box?