Today, the company that had been secretly working on a new fuel cell technology, Bloom Energy, introduced the first version of the product. It is a "future" product that will not be available for the next decade, but it is a look into what future energy might hold. Bloom was able to develope the new cell through investors that donated around $400 million. So far there have been no successful fuel cells that have caught on because most of them "kept costs high and shortened their longevity. One of the coolest things about the new fule cell is that it is made out of common materials like sand! "Small cells are stacked to make a larger device. As natural gas or another fuel psses over the cell and mixes with the oxygen from the air, a chemical reaction generates electricity." Because of this new technology, it is believed that the fuel cell will cut GHG emissions from electricity generation by 50%.
Is the new improvement in fuel cells what we need to start looking beyond fossil fuels? Maybe this will be an incentive for other large companies to invest in smaller green companies, such as Bloom. We need to take a serious look at where we are heading with our pollution and create a better option that will make sense, both environmentally and economically.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
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2 comments:
I actually just read this online im glad i didnt post anything on it then :) This is really cool. I like the fact that this new energy may be affordable to all people because of the materials that it is made with. And the GHG (green house gases im guessing) EMISSION 50% IS CRAZY!!!! im really pumped for this i know im a lame nerd but i think that this could help the planet and im looking foward to this i hop that im not 90 when this actually happens :)
Any company that gets $400 million in venture capital and grants is NOT small. I really like the new innovative ideas that they are developing to increase energy production but the fact that this technology is going to take 10 years or probably longer to have a marketable product seems a bit too far in the future. By then, solar energy will be so cheap and advanced that every house will come standard equipped with the technology. Also, the fact that the cell needs fuel to function scares me because fuel is what these alternative energy sources are aiming to make obsolete. This company seems hyped up but they undoubtedly have potential.
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