Arnie backs cell which could power up to 100 homes

Silicon Valley based Bloom Energy today (February 25) revealed the long-awaited new solid oxide fuel cell – called the Bloom Energy Server.

It was unveiled at eBay’s offices in front of Californian governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and former general Colin Powell.

The server generates enough power to meet the needs of approximately 100 average US homes or a small office building.

This is about 100 kilowatts of power and takes up about the room of an average car parking space.

The firm says its fuel cell technology is ‘fundamentally different’ from the hydrogen fuel cells most people are familiar with.

According to the company the server is distinct in four primary ways it uses lower cost materials, provides unmatched efficiency in converting fuel to electricity, has the ability to run on a wide range of renewable or traditional fuels and is more easily deployed and maintained.

Unlike, traditional renewable energy technologies, like solar and wind, which are intermittent, Bloom’s technology can provide renewable power continually.

“Bloom Energy is dedicated to making clean, reliable energy affordable for everyone in the world,” said Dr KR Sridhar, principal co-founder of Bloom Energy.

“We believe we can have the same kind of impact on energy that the mobile phone had on communications.

“Just as cell phones circumvented landlines to proliferate telephony, Bloom Energy will enable the adoption of distributed power as a smarter, localized energy source.

“Our customers are the cornerstone of that vision and we are thrilled to be working with industry leading companies to lower their energy costs, reduce their carbon footprint, improve their energy security, and showcase their commitment to a better future.”

Luke Walsh