The Bloom Box was originally created to produce oxygen on Mars, but the project was too expensive for funding, thusly being abandoned by NASA. K.R. Sridhar, principal co-founder and CEO of Bloom Energy, however, found a greater and more pratical use for the concept. He decided that instead of making oxygen he would use oxygen as a fuel to manufacture energy. It proved to be a key to what could become our energy source as we continue to move forward in this new millenium.
Right now, the Bloom Box is still in trial and testing phase, which keeps the costs right up there at “forget about it,” but as the technology is proven, economies of scale will come into play and costs will be dramtically reduced. There’s also still much secrecy surrounding the specifics of the venture, as corporate energy vultures are circling to swoop in and steal the idea to beat Bloom Energy to the mass marketplace, but as shown on “60 Minutes,” the concept has something to do with compressed sand, a conductive coating, and a whole lot of brain power that the average person doesn’t possess — and thank God we don’t need to.
Initial takers include industry frontrunners, FedEx, Google, and eBay, already claiming substantial cost savings from use of the boxes. It’s predicted that the Bloom Box stands to eventually overtake the normal power plant as the laptop has overtaken the desktop, barring unforseen circumstances. –gerald radford
