The California-based fuel cell manufacturer Bloom Energy is on the fast track to becoming one of the top American fuel cell companies, supplying alternative energy system units to major corporations such as Google, Apple, eBay, Walmart, Caltech, AT&T, and its newest customers: The Coca-Cola Company and NASA.
The firm’s advanced on-site power generation systems, Bloom Energy Servers, rank among the world’s most energy- and cost-efficient alternative energy systems. Bloom Energy’s solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology was originally developed for NASA’s Mars program.
NASA
The company’s highly efficient Bloom Energy Box provides electrical generation for NASA’s Sustainability Base, its latest and greenest facility, located at the Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.
NASA’s latest mission on Earth is one of the greenest Federal buildings ever created. Sustainability Base’s physical structure and landscape are designed ‘native to place’, capitalizing on local natural resources. The facility’s positioning in relation to the sun’s arc across Moffett Field and the prevailing Bay Area winds allows it to operate without any artificial lighting for around 40 days out of the year.
The building’s external and internal materials were locally sourced and many consist of recycled components.
Coca-Cola
In light of its interest and efforts to reduce its impact on the environment in recent years, Coca-Cola plans to install a new alternative energy system consisting of five natural gas hydrogen fuel cells at its production facility in American Canyon, CA.
Bloom Energy will be supplying the facility’s solid oxide fuel cells. These units use natural gas-generated electricity to produce hydrogen, which produces even more electricity. Coca-cola is confident that the amount of energy produced by Bloom Energy’s fuel cells and subsequent hydrogen will yield enough electricity to manage most of the facility’s energy needs.
Buzz About Bloom
The unveiling of Bloom Energy’s “Bloom Box” fuel cell system two years ago immediately sparked an widespread buzz.While the private company has expanded its focus to data center security, at the core of Bloom Energy is the fact that the electricity produced by one of its units is 50 percent cleaner than that produced by the electrical grid. Major corporations have justified the hype surrounding Bloom, recognizing the firm’s potential to revolutionize the alternative energy sector.
Until next time,
Stephanie
