Due to the new Green revolution, we are aware of the fact that we can no longer burn fossil fuels at the rate we are now. The question is how do we burn less fossil fuel while the demand for energy increases everyday. One way to do that is by using technology that is more efficient than current methods. A company called Bloom Energy has supposedly invented that technology.

Bloom Energy say they have created a small “power plant in a box” called the Bloom Box. They want to install in the backyard of every home and they are almost ready to go public with their invention. They have agreed to go on 60 minutes and describe this new technology, for which they have already secured over $400 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. This legendary venture firm is one of the main reasons why major companies like Amazon, Google, Sun Microsystems, and Genentech are what they are today.

The inventor of the Bloom Box, K.R. Sridhar, used to work for NASA. He invented a similar device for a space mission to Mars that would create oxygen. He realized that he could reverse the process, taking in oxygen instead, to produce energy.

The Fuel Cell
This innovative fuel cell is a thin ceramic coated on both sides with two special inks. After each side is coated with ink, one side would be supplied with the oxygen, the other would be supplied with any fuel, and a chemical reaction would occur. This reaction would create a larger amount of energy then put into it.

Most people are very skeptical about this new technology, most likely because they are so secretive about it. If you have to see it to believe, then they invite you to ask their secret customers whom have bought many already.

Their first customer, Google Inc., bought about a few units over 18 months ago to power a data center and they are still working without issue. John Donahoe, CEO of eBay, said that their Bloom Boxes have already saved them over $100,000 in the past month. Also, based on eBay’s power system, they’ve calculated the Bloom Boxes to be 5 times more powerful than their solar panels. Other notable corporate customers, whom have also purchased units, are Staples and FedEx.

Each unit sold to these companies are made up of many Bloom Boxes. A unit for a customer like FedEx, would cost $700,000 to $800,000 each. This reason why many of their customers have come from California, is due to the incentives in place to purchase technologies like this. With California covering 20% and federal tax breaks cover about 30%, their customers would get these units at half price.

Unfortunately, Bloom Energy currently produces only one unit (large corporate customer unit) per day. K.R. Sridhar has said his goal is to have a unit for each home in about 5 – 10 years. This may seem like an impossible task, but he has major backers already. Former Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has joined the Board of Directors at the energy company and believes there may be something to this technology. If everything goes according to his plan, he said that each unit should cost an average person less than $3,000.

Watch the entire segment from 60 Minutes

Watch CBS News Videos Online

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