The up-to-now secretive startup Bloom Energy took the wraps off its technology this week, unveiling a fuel-cell system that the company claims can run on a variety of fuels and pay for itself in three to five years via lower energy bills.
The company’s founder and CEO, KR Sridhar, said at the official unveiling of the company on Wednesday that the technology–when it’s powered by natural gas–can cut carbon dioxide emissions in half compared to the emissions produced conventional power sources, on average. Several major companies, including Google, eBay, and Walmart, have already bought Bloom’s technology, and in the few months these fuel cells have been in operation, they’ve generated 11 million kilowatt hours of electricity (about enough to power 1,000 homes for a year).
via Technology Review: Bloom Reveals New Fuel Cells.
OTOH …
Sam Jaffe, Renewable & Distributed Energy Blog, gives us “Four Things Bloom Energy Forgot to Tell the World,” namely that the fuel cell ”does not produce electricity more efficiently than centralized generation, isn’t much cleaner than centralized generation, and is more expensive to produce than most other forms. Finally, Jaffe notes the process theoretically has energy storage capability*, but it isn’t clear when the capability may be made available.
This Too Shall Pass 