The Bloom Box

New fuel cell technology!
The Bloom box - 60 Minutes - CBS News

Sound's very cool, garbage dumps are going to become the new power plant's!:wave:

Bloom is making a big splash in the news across the US. we all joked about it at the power company I work at, there has to be a catch and this is the reason they haven't said how it works...

we'll see.. it could be the next power source for the world. but I doubt it.

sk8er4514 said:

Bloom is making a big splash in the news across the US. we all joked about it at the power company I work at, there has to be a catch and this is the reason they haven't said how it works...

we'll see.. it could be the next power source for the world. but I doubt it.

Click to expand...

I hated the video. The guy sounded like he didn't know anything about the product, and if he did, he dumbed it down too much.

Thing is this will definitely not work in urban areas. Also, they haven't sorted out many problems. For example one of the things he mentioned was that a unit had failed and they didn't know why, so they just FLIPPED the whole box because it wasn't getting enough oxygen. If that's the way they're going to solve problems then I don't really see this technology replacing "the grid".

I have much more to say about the video but I'm running out of time to study


EDIT: Funny thing: Look at when he shows her one of the plates. He carefully holds it by the borders so as not to touch the other material (can't remember what it was) / coating... then the "reporter" (who clearly knows sh*t about anything, awesome how she tried to dumb down even more what the guy was saying with stupid examples) just grabs it with her fingers, touching the coating. Look at the guy's face "She's getting finger grease all over it! :'("

as an electrical engineering student this goes against everything they are teaching us. Alternative energy is the future and because they say "we" are the future it only makes sense that they teach us about alternative energy.

It's not that alternative, for now it still requires propane or natural gas. They are hoping that one day it will be solar powered and they are also hoping that one day they can get the price down to $3000 from $800,000. It's a lot of hope. Ford basically did the price thing with his Model T though. I might get a little stock in them when it becomes available. Maybe they will be the next google...

ZRTMWA said:

It's not that alternative, for now it still requires propane or natural gas. They are hoping that one day it will be solar powered and they are also hoping that one day they can get the price down to $3000 from $800,000. It's a lot of hope. Ford basically did the price thing with his Model T though. I might get a little stock in them when it becomes available. Maybe they will be the next google...

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I highly doubt that.

I doubt it will be the next one and only power sorce, but the idea is sound.
If it is aplyed to the right things like GarbageDumps/LandFill's, or the bio recycleing plants promoting recycleing of othere than normal things. I think it has the chance to be something.
Hell if its more efficient than burring coal thats a big thing imo

I haven't seen the specs on this single block... Output voltage and
current... per litre of Natural Gas... is the Inverter included...
Without that basic info it is hard to believe that one or even two 6" cubes
is going to power my house for an equipment investment cost of $3,000.00... :thinking:

And why are those units all installed outside... Is there a danger of explosion..:thinking:
You never know... maybe he's got something...


Jerry

Until it weighs under 200kg including fuel and can output a continuous 200kW of electricity at 420v for an hour, I'm not buying it. Essentially it's a HFC-like design, as far as I can see.

EDIT: When a supposedly serious reporter estimates a market as "gazillions" I tend to turn off somewhat.

EDIT 2: and just how can the *same* design produce energy from hydrogen, fossil fuels and even solar?!

Actually I've read that a standard bungalow home requires about 10KW of
electricity to run.... (I was looking into Solar power at the time)..
But I agree I cringe when some states values like "gazillions"...

Jerry

lasersbee said:

Actually I've read that a standard bungalow home requires about 10KW of
electricity to run....
Jerry

Click to expand...

Who said it was a house I wanted to run? A high-performance electric vehicle would be so much more fun with 1/5th of a megawatt peak power...

lasersbee said:

And why are those units all installed outside... Is there a danger of explosion..:thinking:
You never know... maybe he's got something...

Click to expand...

They operate at really high temps (I think it said like 1800F). So, I imagine being inside a building, even with good insulation and ventilation, would likely produce too much residual heat. That's my theory on why they won't be indoors.

And, I read one cube is good for about 1-2kW ("about 64 25W light bulbs")... not even enough to run kitchen appliances, let alone a house. Hell, wouldn't even power ONE of my audio amplifiers :crackup: