Yahoo Google and eBay DataCenter use on site Natural Gas fuel cell technology from Bloom Energy

02.Aug.2018

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“You can be profitable and green”

no combustion – Solid oxide fuel cell generates the electricity – more efficient (does not give off heat?) than combustion engines (which have ONLY around 50% of efficiency if you dump the HEAT, if you use the heat it might be better)

An expert at Gerson Lehrman Group wrote that, given today’s electricity transmission losses of about 7% and utility-size gas-fired power stations efficiency of 33–48%, the Bloom Energy Server is up to twice as efficient (that would be 66-96% efficiency) as a gas-fired power station.^[2](src)

fuel could be natural gas or hydrogen?

“Launched in 2013, the eBay data center in South Jordan, Utah, is powered entirely by fuel cells. Further breaking with tradition, the facility doesn’t have uninterruptible power supplies or diesel generators, instead relying on the local utility grid for backup power.” (src)

Adobe, eBay, Yahoo using it: A 1-megawatt Bloom Box fuel cell system installed at Yahoo headquarters in Sunnyvale, California in 2014 is designed to “power one-third of the electricity to the buildings on Yahoo’s campus.”^[22]

“it’s cheaper than the grid, it’s greener than the grid” (src)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom_Energy_Server

https://youtu.be/j7hdp8tvCYc

What fuel is used?

fossil fuels, landfill gas, biogas, fracking gas (these are all “natural gas” = METHANE)
- the largest natural gas resources are in RUSSIA, which explains further tensions between USA and Russia.
hydrogen? (should be possible, but could not find any info on the net on that)
- Natural Gas (methane) CAN be produced with (hopefully RENEWABLE) electricity WHILE consuming CO2!
  - right now the catch is to have a stable CO2 source such as biogas plant that operates a combustion engine to produce heat and electricity WHILE giving off CO2.
  - if someone could produce a machine that harvests CO2 from the air that would be GREAT!
- HYDROGEN produced by RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES SUCH AS WIND OR SOLAR WOULD BE THE WAY TO GO! If you want to be fossil free.

known problems:

“… air filters clock up… because of HIGHWAY FOSSIL FUEL DIRT!” X-D

“Bloom has developed an efficient energy generator, providing significantly reduced electricity costs and dramatically lower greenhouse gas emissions.”

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4183581-bloom-energy-seeks-ipo-revenue-grows

who is invested?

5% or greater shareholders in Bloom are Kleiner Perkins (15.85% pre-IPO), Kuwait Investment Authority (10.73%), New Enterprise Associates (8.78%), Alberta Investment Management Corp. (7.53%) and Advanced Equities Financial (6.55%). The firm has raised total equity funding to-date of $1.47 billion.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4183581-bloom-energy-seeks-ipo-revenue-grows

comments:

“Thx for the write up. This company is about the existing archaic electric distribution system, not “renewable energy”.

The current grid is no longer reliable in developed countries where a reliable, consistent electric source is crucial.

You think Google, Amazon, Facebook, Walmart, etc. can afford to have power disruption?

They can’t.

Large multinationals are Bloom’s client base.

Think extremely efficient Generac Generators for commercial electric consumers.

Curious how MS and JPM will pitch this.”

An eBay-commissioned study by the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, found that when configured to provide mission-critical power, Bloom’s solution “would be significantly more reliable than a traditional topology of grid power plus uninterruptible power systems and diesel backup.” (src)

MS (MicroSoft)

wants to take this technology a step further: “placing smaller fuel cells directly into IT racks, an approach that promises to do away with the power distribution infrastructure necessary to bring power from the utility feed to each server and convert it to the appropriate type of electricity – a process that results in a lot of energy being lost.” (src)

Bad PR: Indian working conditions?

https://www.indeed.com/forum/cmp/Bloom-Energy/Discrimination-Bloom-Energy/t432338