[Switcher]

Did anyone watch the 60min. show tonight that featured an alternative energy source (fuel cell) called "The Bloom Box"?

I only caught part of the story.

They said they have a small box less than 1' square that will power an average home in the USA for $3000

They said a few large business (Google, Ebay, etc...) have been running the box for a while now, for testing.

[Switcher]

Link: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/...n6221135.shtml

[Switcher]

This is from the link above:

"Our system can use fossil fuels like natural gas. Our system can use renewable fuels like landfill gas, bio-gas," Sridhar told Stahl. "We can use solar."

This is what had my thinking, why do I need this?

Still needs fuel, right?

[Geof]

Yeah, sure; and I have desert property in Florida and a bridge for sale in Brooklyn.

[Switcher]

Yeah, sure; and I have desert property in Florida and a bridge for sale in Brooklyn.

Did you watch the show, or are you just trying to unload that property, lol.

[Geof]

I don't need to watch the show; hokum is hokum.

[MyCattMaxx]

Sure it can run on garbage. It has a Mr. Fusion on it to power the Flux capacitor........

[Al_The_Man]

Did you watch the show, or are you just trying to unload that property, lol.

Switcher, I watched the show, and it I think it is possible the guy is on to something, the main thing is that at least people like him are looking to replace what we have now, and even if his system, which as you say is being used by a couple of installations successfully, may take a while to come to fruition, he could become one of the names remembered in history.
He reversed an idea of his that was born out of the US space program.
He did not come off, to me at least, as a nut case with a hair brained idea.
Time will tell I guess.
Al.

[Switcher]

Switcher, I watched the show, and it I think it is possible the guy is on to something, the main thing is that at least people like him are looking to replace what we have now, and even if his system, which as you say is being used by a couple of installations successfully, may take a while to come to fruition, he could become one of the names remembered in history.
He reversed an idea of his that was born out of the US space program.
He did not come off, to me at least, as a nut case with a hair brained idea.
Time will tell I guess.
Al.

I agree, from what parts of the show I did get to watch, they said he was an ex-scientist for NASA, & he had already built something to regenerate oxygen, or something like that, while he was working for NASA.

They said the company that financed "The Bloom Box" is the same that helped finance Google & a few other large business. The downside of that bit of info is, the finance company is also the same guys that financed Segway (flop), win some, lose some...

So far, what I see is, it will eliminate the power grid, & be a more efficient power supply, but they still need a fuel supply to start with, so If all the micro power grids are feed from the same fuel supply line, then it really wouldn't stop someone from knocking out a large chunk of end users.

[Al_The_Man]

The way I look at it, he has obviously proved he has produced a very efficient fuel cell, even if it goes no where in its present form, it could at least be something others might build on.
This is just about how every major invention or development gets started.
Now we just need an Efficient replacement for petroleum.:idea:
Al.

[Switcher]

This video says the "Bloom Box" has already saved Ebay $100K this year.

What the video does not mention (full video does) is that Ebay gets a huge incentive (money savings) from state & federal, by going green. So, I wander how much money Ebay actually saved If you subtract all the State & federal money for going green. Since state & federal money for going green will not always be an option, years from now...


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6DLyruTqHI"]YouTube- A Peek Inside the Bloom Box[/ame]

[Pandinus]

And "GREEN" just means friendlier to the environment.
It has to emit SOMETHING there is a chemical reaction creating electricity... these stripped electrons are coming from somewhere and the fuel although not being burnt in the traditional sense is still being oxidized, just through a catalytic reaction of some kind. I'm guessing (uneducated guess) that you get CO2 H20 and OZONE/Carbon-Monoxide??????
No doubt much cleaner than burning coal, and less energy lost in heat... but I doubt it's perfect.... It still uses a fuel that will be depleted over time, sooner than later the more it is used, and once the demand for the natural gas goes up... where does the price go???? Bit I'm sure someone is going to get rich over this...just not me. lol


There is also the demand thing, we don't use all our energy evenly 24hours a day there will need to be a storage of "juice" or else you need a bigger unit for the high demand times and waste the output capabilities the rest of the time.. and current methods of storing electricity are not exactly "clean"... That's what I love about electric cars... clean until you have to make/dispose of the batteries :/

[fizzissist]

As always, remember one simple rule of physics...You don't get something for nothing.

This seems, so far as I've found, to be the best discussion of it. Is it a solid oxide fuel cell?

http://blog.mapawatt.com/2010/02/20/...nge-the-world/

And as usual, I find the comments most interesting.

[pofo]

He said that it took propane and oxygen in and put out electricity. I have a unit that does that in my shed. It's called a generator.

Yes, ebay saved fuel costs, but they said the thing cost over $800k.

It's simple. How much does it cost to operate per kilowatt-hour over the life of the unit?

It was a nice ad for that company, but other than that, it told us nothing.

[Switcher]

Anyone catch the mention at the end of the 60min video (long version), that Colin Powell is on the board of directors for Bloom Box?

[Switcher]

Really the thing that does not look right to me is, the constant mention “holy grail of energy".

This isn't the “holy grail” of energy, If it needs fossil fuel to create electricity.

The Bloom Box install in the video shows a gas line running to the Bloom Box, If they have to replace millions of miles of power lines from coast to coast with buried gas lines, to feed all the Bloom Box, then it isn't progress, since all it's doing is shifting money/work from one industry (nuclear + coal power plants) to another industry (Bloom Box + natural gas)...

[fizzissist]

Whoa, hold on a minute....

Bloom says they only make one size, and it sells for $700-800k.

Ebay says it has 5 of 'em. My math skills give a result of somewhere around a $4Million investment that Ebay says has saved them $100,000 in about 9 months.

By a show of hands....who wants to invest $4Mil into my new company. I'll give you a guaranteed return of 3%. But it's secret. I can't tell you how it works. (I could tell you how it works, but you'd die laughing...and btw, watch out for the cord plugged into the wall)

[fizzissist]

http://www.kpcb.com/team/index.php?KR%20Sridhar

Oh, lookey who else is on this gravy train...Al Gore.

I'll betcha Pachauri is somehow connected too.

[Switcher]

http://www.kpcb.com/team/index.php?KR%20Sridhar

Oh, lookey who else is on this gravy train...Al Gore.

I'll betcha Pachauri is somehow connected too.

LOL, Al Gore

Good find... Is he following the heard?

Those guys crack me up, always need to be in the spotlight.

If Bernie Madoff shows up on that list, I'm out of here...

[Pandinus]

Well I just thought I'd post this like as Google was on the video as IIRC they were a first customer of BLOOM....
If it is so great then why google-granted-the-right-to-buy-and-sell-electricity/