it appears that the green or renewable energy for the masses is closer than we think.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/22/the-bloom-box-video-a-pow_n_471349.html


<embed src='http://cnettv.cnet.com/av/video/cbsnews/atlantis2/player-dest.swf' FlashVars='linkUrl=http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6228923n&releaseURL=http://cnettv.cnet.com/av/video/cbsnews/atlantis2/player-dest.swf&videoId=50083943&partner=news&vert=News&si=254&autoPlayVid=false&name=cbsPlayer&allowScriptAccess=always&wmode=transparent&embedded=y&scale=noscale&rv=n&salign=tl' allowFullScreen='true' width='425' height='324' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' pluginspage='http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer'></embed><br/><a href='http://www.cbsnews.com'>Watch CBS News Videos Online</a>

2/22/2010 12:26:30 PM

in other news, embedding videos technology on TWW is not as close as we thought.

2/22/2010 12:27:48 PM

i saw 60 minutes too

2/22/2010 12:35:12 PM

Nice.

But one thing, so according to the video it requires some fuel source like natural or bio-gas, right? So technically it's not "off the grid" since you have to be supplied by a utility company. Or am I misunderstanding something?

[Edited on February 22, 2010 at 1:01 PM. Reason : .]

2/22/2010 12:45:51 PM

^yeah, that kinda defeats the whole off the grid thing, and actually i dont know which i'd rather rely on, the gas company or the electric company
but at least its clean energy

2/22/2010 1:06:58 PM

What does it exhaust? Takes in fuel (fossil fuels, natural gas, etc) and oxygen and outputs .... ? Oddly those are the same inputs as a regular combustion process. So when the fuel and oxygen combine, will they not release the same crap that comes out of the smokestacks at the power plant?

2/22/2010 1:09:49 PM

http://www.steorn.com/

2/22/2010 1:12:29 PM

^ Indeed. It's easy to get a lot of press and make a fancy webpage for something that doesn't work.
(at least this Bloom thing seems to actually work. or, it actually generates electricity. how well it does it and what the byproducts are still remain to be seen by the public)

[Edited on February 22, 2010 at 1:14 PM. Reason : ]

2/22/2010 1:13:51 PM

Quote :

"What does it exhaust? Takes in fuel (fossil fuels, natural gas, etc) and oxygen and outputs .... ? Oddly those are the same inputs as a regular combustion process. So when the fuel and oxygen combine, will they not release the same crap that comes out of the smokestacks at the power plant?"

Agreed, I'm not saying I know everything about this subject, but this just seems too good to be true. The main inputs are oxygen and "fuel" (which as you stated are the standard inputs for combustion) yet this is supposed to greener how? I am also very interested to see what the byproducts are. It seems to me it would be very similar to any other combustion process, except that power plants and other larger systems are a lot more efficient than some personal unit will be...

[Edited on February 22, 2010 at 1:18 PM. Reason : ]

2/22/2010 1:17:54 PM

Im no expert on the subject and the 60 minutes report was very far from specific, but from what I understand the fuel is not combusted. Rather the dyes painted onto the silicone wafers are the key (the inventor wouldnt say what was in the dyes) to creating the energy. From what I saw there is no visible exhaust.

2/22/2010 1:34:03 PM

There has to be some sort of exhaust. Unless they're converting all that mass directly to energy. (and that would be a hell of a lot of energy.)

2/22/2010 1:45:22 PM

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/22/bloom-box-fuel-cell-launch

Quote :

"The Bloom Box allegedly reverses this process, using natural gas or plant waste as fuel while producing relatively little carbon dioxide."

relatively little, eh? wink wink nudge. They even say it in that 60 minutes video (It's only carbon neutral when you use biogass from landfills).

Bottom line for me: How much gas does it us? I'm not sure exactly how much gas my heater uses but fuck me if my gas bills aren't Texa$ in the winter. It's not worth it to me (or 99% of other consumers) to pay 3k upfront, then more each month just to reduce my carbon footprint.

Even if gas is cheaper *currently* if this takes off you can better believe the gas companies will hike their prices to compensate. Or legislation will be written banning fuel cell power plants on your property (if said legislation does not already exist) thanks to lobbyists of unnamed power concerns.

Also, think of the maintenance. There's a lot of hoses and fans and filters and shit and even in the video they talked about having to go out and fix google's units. You won't ever really be off the grid.


From the same article, regarding emissions:

Quote :

"He has been running a pilot project of the technology at the University of Tennessee for the last two years, where the Bloom Box reportedly proved twice as efficient as traditional power sources and produced 60% fewer emissions."

[Edited on February 22, 2010 at 1:50 PM. Reason : i suck at editing]

2/22/2010 1:46:13 PM

just read watched everything here. what a let down. wow.

2/22/2010 3:47:20 PM

just read watched everything here. what a let down. wow.

i just came back from the future and reposted that at the same time as a sign of my time travel. guys they finally crack cold fusion in 2015. so sit the fuck down and relax till then....

[Edited on February 22, 2010 at 3:48 PM. Reason : 4]

2/22/2010 3:47:20 PM