Bloom Box - Serving Energy

The Bloom Box (or the Bloom energy server) is the latest energy server from Californian Company Bloom Energy. Simply put, it’s a large box shaped instrument filled with solid oxide fuel cells. Bloom Energy claim that the solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) within the bloom box, will prove very effective at revolutionising power production by generating small quantities of electricity that emits low carbon emissions while boasting low running costs.

The Bloom Box is deemed positive as the fuel cells convert fuel into electricity through a clean electro-chemical process as opposed to combustion which can be detrimental on the environment. When the box reaches a temperature of 1,000 degrees the fuel (methane or other hydrocarbons) are converted into power. They’re similar to batteries except that they always run.

Bloom Energy state that their particular type of fuel cell technology is different than "hydrogen" fuel cells in four main ways:

1. Low cost materials – the cells use a common sand-like powder instead of precious metals like platinum or corrosive materials like acids.
2. High electrical efficiency –  can convert fuel into electricity at nearly twice the  rate of some legacy technologies
3. Fuel flexibility – systems are capable of using either renewable or fossil fuels
4. Reversible – technology is capable of both energy generation and storage

Obviously the Bloom Box is deemed positive as it’s a ‘green’ source of energy. Bloom Energy says that with the Bloom Box costumers can cut their C02 emissions by 40-100% proving extremely beneficial on the environment. Furthermore, the Bloom Box also allows their costumers to choose what fuel they want to run their box on. If the box runs on natural gas (methane and hydrocarbons) then the Bloom Box converts that fuel into low-carbon electricity. However, if costumers choose then they can choose to run their Bloom Box on renewable fuel such as Biogas, by doing this Bloom Box costumers could make their energy carbon neutral- meaning no C02 emissions would be released into the atmosphere. This would make the Bloom Box an extremely effective source of ‘green’ energy as C02 is often deemed one of the most poignant gases in relations to global warming/ climate change.

By installing a Bloom Box costumers can also potentially save money on their electricity bills. Bloom energy wants to replace the traditional grid to supply power; they claim that their systems can generate electricity cheaper than the power company for two main reasons. Firstly, Bloom's claim that their efficiency in converting fuel to electricity means that the systems produce significantly more electricity for the same fuel costs. Second, they state that the Bloom Box can save costumers money as the system has the ability to generate the electricity on-site, so, eliminates the need for costly transmission and distribution infrastructure. Supposedly, the financial savings generated by Bloom Box provide a 3-5 year payback on the initial cost of the Box, meaning after a maximum of 5 years costumers should find the cost of the Bloom Box has been reimbursed through the electricity savings the box has created.

Many top transnational companies (TNC) are adopting bloom energy within their businesses. Google, Coca-Cola, E-Bay, FedEx, Bank of America and Staples are just a few examples of organisations who are hoping to become more carbon efficient through utilizing the renewable energy bloom box can offer. TNC Wal-Mart currently has the highest revenue in the world ($408.214 billion in 2010) and are supporting The Bloom Box; Bill Simon, Chief Operating Officer, Wal-Mart U.S explains why:

"At Wal-Mart, our goal is to be supplied by 100 percent renewable energy. To do this, we are considering a number of emerging technologies, including Bloom Energy, to ensure they work for our business, help lower costs for our customers, and reduce our impact on the environment. We hope to use our scale to help bring these technologies to market in a fast and cost effective way."

The Table below outlines why Wal-Mart has chosen to use The Bloom Box within their corporation and how currently Bloom Box’s are operating within their stores.

Why Bloom?
Wal-Mart evaluates their energy vendors with the same rigor applied to all of their suppliers. Consequently, they were seeking a renewable energy solution that could not only make a major contribution to their sustainability targets and contribute to lower energy costs, but also have the long term potential to supply continuous power to stores, even during critical grid outages. A Bloom system powered by biogas could meet those requirements.

Implementation
Wal-Mart has completed installation at two stores in southern California, each at 400kW, generating approximately 3.4 million kWh annually. Each of these sites has the potential to eliminate 1 million pounds of CO2 annually when powered by biogas.
(Table taken from: www.bloomenergy.com)

Subsequently, The Bloom Box seems great, the energy created is renewable, it’s cost effective and extremely beneficial to the environment; with the potential to eliminate the amount of Carbon emissions that are currently emitted. However, many people claim that the Bloom Box won’t live up to the expectations that surround it; there are a plethora of reasons for this.

The official Bloom Box (retails for $700-800k USD)
(Source: CBS)


One of the percieved problems with the Bloom Box is that if costumers choose to run their Box on fossil fuels (methane etcetera) rather than renewable sources  carbon dioxide emissions will be produced (while they’re not as high as other sources of power they are still created). Most alternative energy sources are set up purposely to avoid creating C02 emissions. Moreover, there are also problems with the SOFC’s within the Bloom Box, the fuel cells are prone to burning out and should only be replaceable by specialist engineers, making it a costly and tedious process to replace the SOFC’s if necessary.

With the Bloom Box’s potential benefits far outweighing its negatives, the Bloom Box almost seems too good to be true; this is exactly why people are sceptical about it. Only time will tell whether or not the Bloom Box is as amazing as Bloom Energy claim it is.

Author Sarah Plail