Bloom Energy is a Silicon Valley start-up that is generating a lot of buzz these days. They have just unveiled their secret weapon…the ability to harness chemical reactions to create energy. The Bloom Energy Server is a technological breakthrough…a generator that is totally based around smart fuel cell technology. Each Energy Server is made up of thousands of fuel cells…flat, solid ceramic squares made from a secret sand-like “powder”.
Let’s dig a bit deeper…what is a fuel cell anyway? Fuel cells are little devices that rely upon chemical reactions to generate energy. They are considered cleaner, more affordable, and much more reliable than the so-called “traditional energy sources” like fossil fuels.
After many years of secrecy regarding their inventions and other developments Bloom Energy “spilled the beans” on a 60 minutes interview. On February 22, 2010 the company’s principal co-founder and CEO, Dr. KR Sridnar, appeared on-screen with Lesley Stahl and told the world what was “going on”.
The root of the technology behind the Bloom Energy Server owes at least some of its existence to the NASA Mars space program. Dr. Sridhar worked on this program and was responsible for building the required technology to help support life on Mars. To be more specific, he was to use a combination of solar energy and water to produce not only air to breathe, but fuel for transportation.
In a nutshell here’s what Sridhar’s invention does…it utilizes a clean electrochemical process (rather than dirty combustion) to convert air and a fuel source into electricity. Virtually any fuel source ranging from natural gas to a wide variety of biogases can be utilized. If the Bloom Energy Server is powered by a renewable fuel it can be 100% cleaner than a coal-fired power plant.
Are there any drawbacks to this new technology? Well, absent from the 60 minutes interview was any indication of how this technology might be utilized in the automotive industry and its pursuit of an efficient source of clean omissions.
Customers of the “Bloom Box” are some of the largest and most influential companies in America. Coca-Cola, eBay, Google, Staples and FedEx believe enough in this technology to become customers.
The current mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, is a big supporter of the Bloom Technology. He recently said: “My first reaction was this was a company guaranteed for greatness,” said Bloomberg. “When we look at Bloom Energy we are looking at the future of business, at the future of the economy, at the future of America.”
These are exciting times with the advancement of new sources of energy being unveiled all the time. The Bloom Energy Server wants to be a part of this future.
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It’s not tiny, that’s for sure. The Clarity, Honda’s zero-emission hydrogen powered car is pretty large, or rather long, for a Honda sedan. Not ridiculous Escalade-long, just long for a Honda. It needs to be because there has to be a place to store the fuel cells (in the trunk area).
The Clarity is constructed around a hydrogen fuel cell stack that produces electric power by creating an electrochemical reaction between oxygen and hydrogen. The only emissions are water, which certainly sounds good to all the polar bears out there, I’m sure. The braking system generates energy that is stored in a lithium-ion battery (found under the back seat) that serves to supplement the power provided by the fuel cell stack. Because it’s all fuel cells and and batteries, this car is incredibly quiet and smooth.
The range on a tank of the gaseous hydrogen fuel is 280 miles (450 Km). Gaseous hydrogen is dispensed by the kilogram (note to Americans: DON”T FREAK OUT…the metric system makes MUCH more sense and you’ll figure it out in no time). The car gets 72 miles-per-kilogram (74 miles-per-gallon) which is a bloody big improvement over previous alternative energy cars.
Because hydrogen fuel isn’t exactly easy to find, the Clarity has only been released for real-world testing in Japan and Southern California, where hydrogen stations can be found. Honda is currently working on one day making Home Energy Stations available at home, in our garages. Could be cool.
Before you pshaw this alt-energy car, here this: the Clarity can hit 100 mph (and no, that’s not going downhill in San Francisco; it was on a track). The English car program Top Gear took it out for a drive and the usually cynical-as-hell hosts had to admit it was an excellent car. It’s no 911, but it’s the best alt-energy car they’d tested and said it was difficult to tell it even was one.
Honda has managed to produce a car that can actually work in the real world because they shaved hundreds of pounds off the fuel cells, improve the power-to-weight ratio by 120%, increase fuel efficiency by 20% and have a drivetrain that is 45% more compact compared to their previous fuel-cell vehicle. And they did all this while GM continued to crank out their ridiculous Suburbans and Yukons.
Honda plans to lease about 200 of the Claritys over the next two years to select customers in areas that have enough hydrogen fuel stations to support the number of cars on the road. Currently the lease cost ($600 per month) includes all maintenance and services (but not fuel) and is only available to drivers in Torrance, Santa Monica and Irvine. The cost of producing one of these Star Garnet Metallic-colored beauties is enormous, estimated to be about a million dollars each (though Honda won’t release any figures). The price will obviously go down as Honda accumulates more data through their controlled leasing program and is able to reduce costs. If you’re in Southern California, keep your eyes open for a Clarity, because you probably won’t hear it coming in all it’s stealth silence.
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