David Manning is the New York director ofM.J. Bradley & Associates LLC, a climatechange capital company. He was previously ex-ecutive vice president and chief environmental officer of KeySpan, and execu-tive vice president, U.S. External Affairs for National Grid.

natural gas-fueled fuel cells now being de-veloped here, in Japan, and elsewhere,have the potential to improve efficiency bygenerating power right where it is used.• Bi-Directional. The smart grid will accom-modate power and information flowing intwo directions. The consumer will receiveenergy when needed, but may feed energyback from solar panels, micro-wind, fuelcells, or even a plug-in hybrid vehicle.• Vehicles. The new rush to plug-in hybridsor electric vehicles is real. Fisker is one ofthe cool new California visionary produc-ers about to manufacture an electric car inDelaware. They purchased a GM plant thatwas closing last July, saving American jobsand Middle East oil. This movement is real,and we will soon see a time when you canplug in your car at night when power ischeapest and roll quietly past the gas sta-tions. A smart grid facilitates such technol-ogy and may even allow these vehicles’batteries to provide energy storage whenneeded.• Reliability. The grid will be smarter inways we won’t see, but may feel. Thesmart grid will self-diagnose problems, re-ducing outages or speeding repairs, andbetter link regions, allowing the most effi-cient plants to run more. Trees will comedown in 70mph winds, as we were re-minded in the March storm, but utilitieswill have better information in real time asto the condition of the grid.• New Options. LIPA has programs now forlarge scale “community solar” as well asmicro-solar panels which are dropping inprice. But the game changer will be cost.New technologies need volume productionto be affordable, and utilities such as LIPAare working to get us there with strategicsubsidies and accommodation on the grid.• Smart appliances. The vision of a smartgrid connecting large-scale wind, solar,tidal, or geothermal to your home througha smart meter includes intelligent appli-ances that communicate with each other.Perhaps the washing machine will not runwhen the dishwasher does or the refrigera-tor is cycling on. Those technologies arecoming, but the speed of their deploymentwill in part be a factor of consumer de-mand.

The time has really come for the con-sumer to enjoy the tools science and engi-neering have created. At a minimum, youcan plan your consumption and controlsome usage remotely, but ultimately youwill be able to purchase smart appliancesand feed their needs during peak periodswith your plug-in hybrid vehicle. You willhave greater access to more renewable en-ergy that is better balanced on the systemand ultimately more reliable and afford-able. It takes money, it takes time, and ittakes leadership, but the ball has beenmoved way down the court in the last year.

Capital requirements for this build areenormous. But ultimately, smarter use ofenergy is our only option to assure futurecompetitiveness. China has now become aworld leader in renewables. California hasgrown its population 30% in recent years,while energy consumption has remained flat.

The trifecta of the smart grid will begreater reliability, permanent cost savings,and a reduced environmental impact. ■

SMART GRIDContinued from previous page

Following a video on CBS’s “60 Minutes” and an arti-cle in Fortune magazine and well known among“green” technologists, Bloom Energy Corporation co-

founder and CEO, Dr. K. R. Sridhar, officially launched his“baby,” the Bloom Box, recently before a stellar audienceincluding California Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggerand General Colin Powell at eBay’s Silicon Valley head-quarters. The event was recorded live through CNET.Based in Sunnyvale, California, Bloom Energy unveiled itsBloom Energy Server, a solid oxide fuel cell that providesclean energy more affordably than the electric grid andother older-style fuel sources. It has been eight years in themaking at a cost of almost $400 million. Already “TheBox” is being used by Fortune 500 customers like Bank ofAmerica, Coca-Cola, Cox Enterprises, eBay, FedEx,Google, Staples and Walmart.

Bloom Energy Corporation develops solid-oxide fuelcells using technology capable of converting natural gas orother fuel into electricity. Its clean energy systems producehydrogen as a by-product. Its Bloom Box could be the firstfuel cell to solve the issue of affordable clean energy.

Philosophy Sparked DevelopmentAs reported through CNET, Sridhar, formerly

a NASA rocket scientist, in viewing im-ages of the Earth at night observedareas of the world that weremore affluent had light andhe felt that the poor “hadno passport to eco-nomic growth with-out energy.”Commenting on thegeopolitical andsocial impact ofthis as a big part ofworld politics andpolicy, Sridhar sayshe saw the creationof cheaper energy as“a call to our generation…to makean impact, to do goodand make good.”

He questions, “Why can’twe simply follow examples? PC’sto laptops, analog telephonesto cell phones,” adding weneed clean energy that is reli-able and affordable and if wehave it, the world will adopt itand have access to it.

The Bloom Box TechnologySridhar introduces his explanation of the Bloom Box say-

ing, “Thomas Edison had the idea of distributed electricity100 years ago…the fuel cell was already out there in the1830’s. What had not been done was create clean energy thatwas affordable and that iswhat we have done. The coreof our technology issand…plentiful…cheap.”

The sand is baked in aprocess Sridhar calls “powderto power” to create palm size,thin ceramic disks. Each ispainted with a secret formulagreen ink that acts as an anodeon one side and the cathodeon the reverse side gets specialblack ink. Unlike other fuelcells, Sridhar’s has no need for precious metals. As for li-censing this technology, he says, “Stay tuned.”

Because of its unique chemistry, the Bloom Box can utilizeany traditional fuel, natural gas, renewable, biomass gas,landfill gas or ethanol and use it to produce electricity andstore it as well. “Each of these (fuel cells) produces 25 watts, enough for a

lightbulb,” says Sridhar.“You take a stack of theseand you can power any-thing…In a few years(maybe ten) we will usethis to get hooked up as ahome server to poweryour car and mix with

solar.”Eventually, Sridhar

projects that the Bloom Boxwill be able to power a house

with a fuel cell running on the nat-ural gas line that is already there at a

cost of about $3,000.“It offers lower energy costs,clean and reliablepower…with a three to fiveyear payback and costs fixedfor 10 years..,” he adds, “Sincewe put up our first units, we

have powered greater than 11 million kWhs.”

Response from Business Community“The Box” is currently selling to large companies for be-

tween $700,000 or $800,000 and being embraced by some ofAmerica’s foremost business leaders. Venture capitalist

John Doerr of Kleiner,Perkins, Caulfield andByers, an early convert,investor and Bloom En-ergy board member, madepublic on CNBC his beliefthat the Bloom Box couldbe the “next Google.”Larry Page of Googlesays, “We were the firstcustomer…I’d love to seeus having a whole datacenter running on this at

some point.”When asked why Wall-Mart, the largest company in the

world with 2 million employees uses the Bloom EnergySaver, COO Bill Simon answers, “We aspire to power ourbuildings with 100% renewable energy. To do that, it has tobe profitable-first and foremost…The opportunity to pro-

Bloom Energy Introduces its “Bloom Box”Revolutionary Fuel Cell to Supply Affordable Electricity

Patented Technology Provides Clean, Reliable Power from Renewable or Traditional Sources

“The Box” is currently selling tolarge companies for between

$700,000 or $800,000 and beingembraced by some of America’s

foremost business leaders.– Larry Page of Google

Dr. KR Sridhar, founder, CEO, Bloom Energy

Photo by Jonathan Sprague, Redux

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger greets Dr. KR Sridhar, co-founder, CEO, Bloom Energy

Photo via Bloom Energy by Jakub Mosur

BY SALLY GILHOOLEY

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vide it for everyone at less cost is a goal of ours.” Coke’s President Brian Kelly says that Coca-Cola has aggressive goals and needs

clean, reliable energy sources that meet customer and community demand. He adds,“One of the very aggressive goals we have is to measure our carbon footprint andreduce it by 2015. Bloom Box is powering 1/3 of an Odwalla plant.”

General Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State and Bloom Energy boardmember says that while the proof of the pudding is in the product and its receptionfrom the business community, “We want to keep moving forward and get futuremodels in places like African villages.”

Reactions from Energy LeadersDavid Manning, New York director of M. J. Bradley & Associates LLC, a climate

change capital company who was previously executive vice president and chief en-vironmental officer of KeySpan, in his article about the Smart Grid in this issue ofNetworking® magazine, acknowledges that fuel cells, in general, have the potential toreduce our dependence on central power stations and their connecting grids im-proving efficiency by generating power where it is used.

He tells Networking® magazine, “Most significant is the profile that Bloom hasbrought to alternate forms of power generation. With Bloom coming out of the tech-nology corridor in Southern California what is really terrific is that they have pulledtogether a bunch of individuals who know how to communicate and bring credibil-

ity to what is a challenging science.“The real issue is, will this unit be able to produce electricity at lower cost than the

National Grid? People will pay a premium for greener but in this economy the abil-ity to pay more for green is not infinite. All the various technologies are in a race forthis,” says Manning.

Manning refers to the Honda “FreeWatt” as a low-emission natural gas-fueledfuel cell that gained acceptance through Honda’s reputation for reliability. With theBloom Box, he says, “You are asking people to take a leap in technology and theywon’t take that leap and invest their money unless they have some degree of trust inthe provider. Sridhar has been able to engage very savvy companies that you iden-tify with technology. So, it has as much to do with a communication strategy as itdoes with an energy strategy and I commend him for that.

“By the Silicon Valley people jumping into the energy business, they are makingeveryone think more about what are our options. Even if this doesn’t turn out to becheaper, now everyone is going to pay more attention,” Manning says.

In referring to Sridhar’s hope to take the technology to poor countries that don’thave a grid Manning mentions that when Philips brought out their fluorescent LEDbulbs, they made the point that so much of the world does not have electric light.He says, “I draw the analogy that when they brought out the compact fluorescent,they made the same point that when you have light you have education. Becausevery often kids in such countries have to work during the day and are not getting achance toread.”

Manning sums up by saying that the real issue is how do we get off our depend-ence on imported oil and one of the ways to do that is to use better forms of power.He explains, “Of course you can have large hydro to do that or large wind to do thatbut you are still dependent on the transmission system. What the (Bloom Box) is try-ing to do is to get a power source “inside the fence” – as we say – and ultimately in-side the home.

“These technologies continue to go in that direction and I think there is a marketfor fuel cells that will continue to grow as people become more and more aware,”Manning says.

Bert Cunningham, senior vice president of corporate communications for theNYPA and formerly vice president of communications for the Long Island PowerAuthority (LIPA), tells Networking® magazine that while he was at LIPA they testedfuel cell use in free standing applications like at a McDonalds and also in grid appli-cation at sub stations.

While he acknowledges the (Bloom Box) as “very innovative technology,” hequestions that because they have limited production and currently are making theirproduct one at a time whether it is going to be able to “gear up and become the kindof universal fuel cell that they seem to want it to become.”

Cunningham says, “To have it available to homeowners and businesses they willhave to go into an assembly-line mode of manufacturing and that is a challengewhere quality control is going to be important.

“As with all these kinds of technologies it is a matter of getting them out into thefield and testing them under very rigorous operating conditions in all kinds ofweather situations which help to perfect the product, Once it is perfected, how dothey upscale their manufacturing to meet anticipated demand?” Cunningham adds.

He cites the lesson of Henry Ford who mass-produced his cars at the turn of thelast century thereby driving the price down and says, “But, there has to be a signifi-cant demand for the units to make it worthwhile for them to upscale to large scalemanufacturing.

“Right now, he (Sridhar) has gone to large companies that need significantamounts of electricity and who want to show that they have a sustainability philoso-phy of using green energy. So, he is going to the right markets now to get in-the-field operating experience and, at the same time, have credible entities using histechnology which also gives it credibility in the marketplace,” Cunningham con-cludes. ■

BLOOM BOX Continued from page 20

Sridhar says he saw the creation of cheaper energy as “a call to our generation…to make

an impact, to do good and make good.”

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