from today newsline

Bloom Energy founder K.R. Sridhar introduced his invention created to provide clean and economical energy to every home around the world. Surprisingly, the raw material for his electricity-generating fuel-cell system is sand, which is used to make wafers that are the core of the Bloom energy fuel cell.
The “Bloom Box” is a collection of fuel cells – skinny batteries – that use oxygen and fuel to create electricity with no emissions. Sand is baked into diskette-sized ceramic squares and painted with green and black ink to create the fuel cells. Each fuel cell has the potential to power one light bulb. The fuel cells are then stacked into brick-sized towers sandwiched with metal alloy plates, and subsequently housed in a refrigerator-sized unit–the Bloom Box. Oxygen is drawn into one side of the unit, and fuel (fossil-fuel, bio-fuel, or even solar power can be used) is fed into the other side. The two combine within the cell and produce a chemical reaction that creates energy with no burning, no combustion, and no power lines. The Bloom 100-kilowatt Box converts natural gas and air into electricity, producing water and carbon dioxide in the process. Almost a complete green solution.
Google, FedEx, Wal-Mart, Staples, and EBay are among the company’s clients, purchasing corporate boxes that cost $700,000 to $800,000. EBay installed five Bloom Boxes nine months ago which fuel approximately 15 percent of its San Jose campus and has resulted in savings of $100,000 to date. Sridhar admits that the units come at a substantial price, but hopes to reduce the cost by $2,000 per box by 2020.
Bloom Energy announced its plans to raise $150 million in sixth-round capital to establish a market for the Bloom Box. The company says it has booked most of this funding with Advanced Equities Investment with its planned Initial Public Offering (IPO) valued at $1.45 billion!
Of course, this enormous amount of money is attracting the attention of critics and competitors. Critics declare the process is nothing revolutionary—merely another version of fuel cell technology, continuously pursued by many companies over the decades. It is true that the Bloom Box may be more efficient than a conventional natural gas power plant in converting natural gas to electricity. However, critics indicate Bloom Energy has not disclosed enough information to prove its invention is as efficient as the high efficiency natural gas plants now in use around the world. There is also the question whether the Bloom Box’s current high costs can be reduced enough in future to make it economical.
The already low price of natural gas saw a 15% decline this week—an interesting side note since price drives the economy. The gas reserves found around the world are enormous and may keep price down, at least as long as the fracking process is profitable. At these prices, there is going to be more effort to use natural gas over other forms of energy.