HARDWARE

implanted with high school spy cameras. beware. 

So... anyone want to explain this other then the magical "put fuel (ambiguous) and oxygen together and out goes electricity" theory they put forth? 

I smell bovine excrement. 

If the customers say it works, I can believe it. But the question is definitely cost and mass manufacturing. The average homeowner can't plop down half a million bucks for one of these things. 

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells are the silicon plates that are inside the bloom box...

Very interesting stuff 

http://www.alexchiu.com/

I'm calling BS. 

whats in the box, whats in the box? 

Cream Soda said:

http://www.alexchiu.com/

I'm calling BS.

Wow that is...very questionable. But then, what would Tesla's website have looked like? I bet it'd be some crazy half-cocked shit just like this. 

Cream Soda said:

http://www.alexchiu.com/

"Only Alex Chiu has the solution to a unified world, unless you can think of a better one.." 

I don't think they would have the big boss of ebay showing us all the boxes on the front lawn, and telling us it produces 15% of their power, if it was just bullshit. 

http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim//2010/02/21/60_X_aSkepticsView_221_100x75.jpg 

mediaphile said:

If the customers say it works, I can believe it. But the question is definitely cost and mass manufacturing. The average homeowner can't plop down half a million bucks for one of these things.

That was just for those huge bitches, remember he said two of the cubes that he held in his hands at the start could power a North-American home, and I think they each cost 3000. (referring to the video) 

well, we can scrap power plants to put these in... but then we're gonna have to build oxygen plants where the powerplants used to be 

JDH annan said:

we're gonna have to build oxygen plants

Yeah, we'll have to build all kinds of trees. This will never work! 

Considering that fuel-cell type stuff is always "just around the corner", or "just about to be released", I won't hold my breath. People put way too much faith into those things. 

With Google, Ebay, and FedEx powering some of their operations with these fuel-cells I don't think the technology is just around the corner. 

I just hope some giant energy corp. doesn't buy the patent and sit on it like all the car companies did with those breakthroughs. 

But then again, he seems like the type of righteous genius that wouldn't allow that to happen unless they killed him. 

I love the part where he says it will power one American house, or 6 in India.

USA USA USA USA! 

mediaphile said:

Wow that is...very questionable. But then, what would Tesla's website have looked like? I bet it'd be some crazy half-cocked shit just like this.

Don't disparage TESLAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
I find it funny that this has the same name as the only good third-party Wii game. 

Squishy said:

I love the part where he says it will power one American house, or 6 in India.

USA USA USA USA!

Doesn't help that I'm running three machines on my desk and playing PS2 on my old CRT with all the lights on and the microwave running cooking hot pockets 

Just make sure you leave after you start the machine. Then just chill in a hotel room for about a day and go back and get in the box. And don't forget your Oxygen tank! Everything will be fine. 

i'm very hopeful for this...but not holding my breath. 

Basically it is a battery. Whether they can make ti cheap enough is the big question. 

Hoss said:

Just make sure you leave after you start the machine. Then just chill in a hotel room for about a day and go back and get in the box. And don't forget your Oxygen tank! Everything will be fine.

^^^^I love this.

But the Bloom Box, from what I understand, has insane carbon dioxide emissions, which will NOT help our current situation. Saying that it's 'clean' is a little over the top, considering it will be taking in oxygen and outputting carbon dioxide. Not to mention it will still be running on natural gas/fossil fuels. I don't think this will really get us anywhere. This is...not really a step in the right direction, but I don't think it's a step backwards either. It's more of a sideways step. 

I'm very happy about this, but it still runs on natural gas, a non-renewable resource. Efficiency is definitely not a step in the wrong direction, but it still seems like it's trying to sell the concept that we can just use as much energy as we want and pay no price, ultimately. I found the fact that an American household using four to six times as much energy as a Indian household to be a mild jab. 

Ah, shorter description without all the journalistic crap:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom_Energy_Server
If I understand it correctly it's nothing more than a slightly cleaner diesel-generator with a battery included. 

Wheres mah nuclear fusion! 

JDH annan said:

then we're gonna have to build oxygen plants where the powerplants used to be

I hate puns 

So it still burns fuel and produces carbon dioxide that will contribute to global warming?
And did she actually just say that the clean energy industry will be worth "bazillions" of dollars? 

Bullshit. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Americans are so optimistic for the next big leap. 

mootet said:

Bullshit. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Americans Everyone is so optimistic for the next big leap.

FTFY 

Since it seems folks aren't getting this...

1. Fuel cells take in fuel and Oxygen, and put out water, CO2, and electricity. No other by-products, so by this standard, they are considerably cleaner than combustion-based engines. Fuel cells don't burn fuel at all... it's a chemical reaction.

2. They are efficient compared to combustion, which means that for a given amount of CO2 emissions you get a lot more energy.

3. Generating power on-site is more efficient because you don't have transmission losses.

4. The normal fuel for this thing will be methane (natural gas) which produces much lower carbon emissions compared to coal even when burned conventionally.

5. If you can use waste methane (from a landfill, etc...) there's big net benefit because methane itself is a much more potent greenhouse case than C02, so turning it into CO2 helps.

So if this thing works as advertised, I think there's a good chance you're looking at carbon emissions reductions in the 75%+ range over conventional coal-generated power. No, it's not zero carbon, but if as they claim (and that's a big IF) it can be implemented cost-competitively with traditional power generation, it's a huge environmental win. 

Plus you could use biofuel, so no more non-renewable resource usage. 

A revolutionary new fuel cell? 

Ok article, but I like the title chosen for this link better.

http://users.bestweb.net/~jfgm/Encyclopedia%20Web/images/BloomCounty.jpg 

mattrmcg said:

Doesn't help that I'm running three machines on my desk and playing PS2 on my old CRT with all the lights on and the microwave running cooking hot pockets

Ya rly. I'm like the god damn light police in my house. Every time I come home my roommates are sitting on the couch and EVERY light in the house is on, in the middle of the day. I'm like "WTF guys?!", and they look around and are all, "Well...it used to be...night."

tomtom224 said:

It's more of a sideways step.

That's 50% closer to a step in the right direction than we usually take! Makin progress! 

Bill Nye said:

whats in the box, whats in the box?

Step 1: Cut a hole in a box...