Comments on WattHead - Energy News and Commentary: The Economics of the Bloom Energy's "Breakthrough"...

Werner, you're correct, the Bloom Box runs on ...

2010-03-17T09:51:52.990-07:00

Werner, you're correct, the Bloom Box runs on natural gas (or another methane supply like landfill gas) and thus needs a steady delivery of gas. That'll likely be through gas pipelines, which are pretty widespread however. If the pipes to the facility the Bloom Box used at are already at capacity however, it may require an extension of the gas pipeline system to fully supply a set of Bloom Box fuel cells though.

Bloomenergy claim that the need for logistics infr...

2010-03-16T08:26:15.844-07:00

Bloomenergy claim that the need for logistics infrastructure becomes obsolete, since they generate on site. The Bloombox uses fuel, of whatever variant, however, and that needs to get to the site, so surely that still requires some form of transport.
Am I missing something?

Stapes

Robert, thanks, and thanks for stopping by. I act...

2010-02-25T16:36:17.766-08:00

Robert, thanks, and thanks for stopping by. I actually gave a range because "official" EPA eGrid figures do not factor in transmission losses. eGrid puts the national average emissions rate at 1.33 lbs/kWh while my calculations of average emissions rate taking into account transmission losses and power imports/exports is 1.47 lbs/kWh (hence the 1.3-1.5 lbs/kWh) range. Hope that helps. IMO, it's most appropriate to compare the Bloom fuel cell's emissions rate to emissions rates factoring in transmission losses.

First, congratulations on the Forbes re-posting --...

2010-02-25T16:27:50.342-08:00

First, congratulations on the Forbes re-posting -- that's how I came to find your excellent blog.

Quick question on the CO2 emissions calculations: did the numbers for central generation (e.g. 1.3-1.5 lbs/kWh for on-grid electricity) factor in transmission loss (site vs primary)?

Commenter Amazingdrx at Grist reminds me that wast...

2010-02-24T20:30:13.932-08:00

Commenter Amazingdrx at Grist reminds me that waste heat can indeed be used to provide cooling using the common absorption refrigeration technique (which I should have recalled, since the entire campus at my alma mater, the University of Oregon - Go Ducks! - was cooled using absorption chillers run by our natural gas plant). So the waste heat from these fuel cell stacks should be used to cool the data centers they also power, increasing the efficiency and economics of the system...

Post has been updated accordingly...

Great post Jesse. I agree there are a lot of "...

2010-02-24T19:58:50.992-08:00

Great post Jesse. I agree there are a lot of "if's" "and's" and "but's" still waiting to unearth themselves around this new technology, but I do not know why so many people are toting around the $800,000 price tag. Who knows if that is how much this really costs?

It seems possible to me that these test units were a way to squeeze more R&D money out of tax payer dollars. All it would take would be for some avid company enthusiasts (read: investors) to agree to a price that could be essentially be buying them some equity while raising the base of what %30 can be taken from. If a company was willing to pay $600K for one, why not make the price $900K?

It could be a pretty good scam. This company could surprise us and end up selling these things for a fraction of their test price. If they work as well as they say, imagine how popular they will be at %50 of the price tag.