Bloom Energy Debuts Advanced Fuel Cell 

Bloom Energy Servers powering eBay headquarters in San Jose, CA Courtesy of Nicki Dugan

Bloom Energy, a Silicon Valley-based company committed to changing the way people generate and consume energy, announced on February 25, 2010, the availability of the Bloom Energy Server, a patented solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology that provides a cleaner, more reliable, and more affordable alternative to today’s electric grid, as well as traditional renewable energy sources. The Bloom Energy Server provides distributed power generation, allowing customers to efficiently create their own electricity on-site. The company introduced its groundbreaking technology at an event hosted at eBay headquarters along with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, General Colin Powell, and several of its early customers.

Built using abundant and affordable materials, Bloom’s fuel cell technology is fundamentally different from the legacy “hydrogen” fuel cells with which most people are familiar. The Bloom Energy 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

• 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 24/7.

Each Bloom Energy Server provides 100 kilowatts (kW) of power in roughly the footprint of a parking space. Each system generates enough power to meet the needs of approximately 100 average U.S. homes or a small office building. For more power, customers simply deploy multiple Energy Servers side by side. The modular architecture is designed to allow customers to start small and “pay as they grow”.

Bloom’s early customers have deployed the solution to lower and/or fix their energy costs, while significantly cutting their carbon footprint and enhancing their energy security by reducing their dependence on the grid. Customers include Bank of America, The Coca-Cola Company, Cox Enterprises, eBay, FedEx Express 9an operating company of FedEx), Google Staples and Walmart.

Since the first commercial customer installation in July 2008, Bloom’s Energy Servers have collectively produced more than 11 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity, with CO2 reductions estimated at 14 million pounds — the equivalent of powering approximately 1,000 American homes for a year and planting one million trees.

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

Powder to power — how it works

Founded in 2001, Bloom Energy can trace its roots to the NASA Mars space program. For NASA, Sridhar and his team were charged with building technology to help sustain life on Mars using solar energy and water to produce air to breath and fuel for transportation. They soon realized that their technology could have an even greater impact here on Earth and began work on what would become the Bloom Energy Server.

The Bloom Energy Server converts air and nearly any fuel source — ranging from natural gas to a wide range of biogases — into electricity via a clean electrochemical process, rather than dirty combustion. Even running on a fossil fuel, the systems are approximately 67 percent cleaner than a typical coal-fired power plant. When powered by a renewable fuel, they can be 100 percent cleaner. Each Energy Server consists of thousands of Bloom’s fuel cells — flat, solid ceramic squares made from a common sand-like “powder.”

“Today, we are witnessing something special,” said John Doerr, partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Bloom Energy board member. “This is a new kind of product announcement. It comes long after a product has shipped, and it comes directly from marquis customers. For years, there have been promises of new energy solutions that are clean, distributed, affordable and reliable; today we learn that Bloom, formerly in stealth, has actually delivered. Americans want clean, affordable, energy, 24×7 — and all the jobs that go with it. Bloom’s boxes are a breakthrough, serving energy, serving demanding customers and serving our country.”

Bloom Energy’s management team possesses expertise across a number of relevant industries, including aerospace, high volume manufacturing, semiconductors, automotive, naval nuclear and Silicon Valley startups. In addition to CEO Sridhar, the company’s board members include John Doerr, partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; General Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State; Scott Sandell, general partner, New Enterprise Associates (NEA); T.J. Rodgers, chairman, SunPower; and Eddy Zervigon, managing director, Morgan Stanley.

Bloom Energy’s investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, representing the firm’s first clean tech investment, as well as Morgan Stanley, NEA and Northgate Capital.