Bloom Energy recently introduced its “Energy Server” fuel cell, presenting it as a significant step towards greener energy and energy independence. This begs the question: how impactful will this new technology actually be?
While it’s early to definitively say, Bloom Energy’s generators could become a vital part of energy production and management, or even revolutionize our relationship with energy entirely.
The Bloom Energy Server originated from a NASA project aimed at generating air and fuel from electricity for Mars expeditions. When the project concluded, Dr. KR Sridhar and his team realized the technology could be reversed to produce electricity using air and fuel. After five years, they had a working prototype, and within a few more, they scaled it to a commercial level of 100 KW. Now, the Energy Server is a viable product, implemented by major corporations like Google and Ebay.
So, how does it work, and what makes it superior to other green energy solutions? The Bloom Energy Server is a high-temperature fuel cell that transforms hydrocarbon fuel and oxygen into water and electricity. This technology was first explored during the Apollo Moon program when NASA utilized fuel cells in their spacecraft. Bloom’s innovation lies in using a ceramic plate as a dielectric, coated with proprietary inks to facilitate chemical reactions. Each handheld plate can generate about 1 KW of electricity, and by stacking them in modules, power output can reach 10 KW for a home or 100 KW for a small business.
The fuel cell runs on natural gas directly from utility lines, landfill methane, or other available bio-gases, with oxygen sourced from the air. It produces heat and steam, essential for sustaining the reaction, and releases a small amount of CO2 as a byproduct – less than burning the gas directly. This process is cleaner and more efficient than using a gas turbine generator.
It can be compared to a quiet, solid-state gas turbine generator without exhaust, making it a suitable replacement for engine-based backup generators in homes and businesses. Currently, the cost is prohibitive for residential use. However, it offers a roughly three-year payback for businesses using it as an alternative energy source, not just backup power. This is impressive for a newly released product in limited production. As production scales up, prices are expected to decrease. Additionally, Bloom Energy Servers will be offered in a wider range of models with varying power levels.
Even if this technology simply offered a new way to convert natural gas to electricity, it would still be significant. But it’s more than that. Being a clean, quiet device that can be installed next to a building with a similar size and appearance to a large electrical transformer, it allows for more distributed power generation. If the price becomes more accessible, with a one-year payoff or better, there might be a rush by medium and large businesses to install these systems.
We anticipated this to happen with solar panels, but cost and the fluctuating nature of solar power hindered widespread adoption. Google, a Bloom Energy Server user, has installed large solar panel arrays, but these remain uncommon in the U.S. Wind energy is more popular but also suffers from inconsistent output due to wind variability.
Critics of green energy use these limitations to dismiss the idea of moving away from traditional hydrocarbon fuels. However, this perspective is too narrow. The solution isn’t a single breakthrough like fusion but a multi-faceted approach using various technologies managed by a smart grid that distributes energy efficiently. For example, solar power is ideal for peak air conditioning demands during summer midday hours when solar panels generate the most power.
A truly smart grid could even leverage millions of electric cars parked in garages to regulate grid stability by quickly supplying or absorbing small amounts of electricity. The Bloom Energy Server could serve a similar function on a commercial scale. Imagine companies having both a Bloom unit and solar panels on their premises. Our struggling energy grid would stabilize, potentially allowing us to decommission outdated coal-fired power plants.
Of course, we still need baseload power, which alternative sources can’t currently provide. This highlights the need for more nuclear plants to reduce carbon emissions. Bloom Energy Servers, in large numbers, could potentially contribute to baseload power. However, it’s unclear how much natural gas we’ll have if we replace coal with gas on a large scale. Additionally, converting fossil fuels to electricity inherently releases some CO2.
We don’t yet know how successful we can be if we fully commit to energy independence and green energy. We can’t claim to have truly tried until solar panels, windmills, and people selling excess electricity to the grid become commonplace. We reached the moon in under a decade using fuel cells. Imagine how quickly we could solve our energy challenges if we fully dedicated ourselves to wind, solar, and fuel cell technologies.
