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Bloom Box Brick Powers Your Home
The Bloom Box is a device that Bloom Energy claims will run on any fuel, from fossil fuel to biomass, and produce reliable electricity for your home or business. Apparently, a brick-sized device could meet the power needs of a typical home and save you money over traditional power sources.
The Bloom Energy website isn't worth visiting; if this story hadn't been on Sixty Minutes last night, I wouldn't have presented it. Apparently, this device is the result of about $400 million in venture capital, and has larger units at work at companies like eBay. So, take it with a grain of salt.
Here is a picture of pair of fuel cells needed for an American home.
The Bloom Box's catalytic plates consist of a stack of ceramic plates interspersed with an unidentified 'cheap metal alloy' - other similar cells require expensive metals such as platinum.
(Bloom boxes for your home)
Although this device obviously requires you to add fuel (gaseous fuel, like natural gas or methane from biomass), the idea of a little box with big power is an enjoyable science-fictional concept. Fans of Robert Heinlein recall the Shipstone from his 1982 novel Friday.
If you like the idea of small but powerful energy-producing devices, you'll be energized by these small-but-powerful stories:
- EEStor Ultracapacitor 'Battery' And Heinlein's Shipstone
- Betavoltaic Battery: 30 Years Of Power
- Hyperion Power Module Neighborhood Nuclear Reactor
From TGDaily; thanks to an anonymous reader who submitted the story tip and reference. Also, you can go can go to Popular Science to see the very detailed Sixty Minutes piece in its entirety - but beware, you'll need to get past the commercial.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 2/22/2010)
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