A former NASA advisor who developed technologies to sustain life on Mars, this earnest scientist is now harnessing his visionary skills and a large team of engineers to solve the energy crisis. His ambitious goal? To revolutionize the energy industry, just like cell phones revolutionized the communications industry. His team is developing high efficiency fuel cells to provide a globaldistributed system of electricity supply at low cost and a low (and ultimately zero) carbon footprint. Clients include Google, eBay, Fedex and Walmart. Not too shabby.
The company has been in stealth mode for the last eight years andindustry speculationhas been rife about its future plans. Thanks to a CBS 60 Minutes Report by Lesley Stahl on February 21st, and the official Bloom Energy unveiling, many more details are now available of this potentially revolutionary product.
Even before opening his doors to 60 Minutes, KR agreed to discuss Bloom Energy’s progress in this exclusive and detailed Fresh Dialogues interview, recorded in 2009. To read the interview transcript click here
“Energy is a passport to a better living. For the rest of the world that doesn’t have access to power, to electricity; to give them that is empowering them to a better life. If your solution works and you make it affordable and you distribute it all over the world, then you have definitely changed the world….You give power to the people.”
What’s in the Bloom Box?
“It takes the chemical energy from the fuel and converts that to electrons with no in between conversion. So you are changing your currency only once. It’s an electro-chemical reaction..like a battery…but the big difference is it’s a power generator so you keep supplying the fuel in and you’ll keep getting the electrons out – most importantly without combustion. It’s a one step conversion… high efficiency…you burn less fuel – less greenhouse gases -and eliminate all the combustion related polluting gases.”
What’s the link with transportation?
“Transportation can potentially go in two directions in the future. One is a hydrogen infrastructure for the car, the other one is an electrical infrastructure for the car…plug-in hybrids…Our device can either produce the electricity that’ll charge the car or provide you hydrogen if the transportation becomes hydrogen based. So we’ve sort of become the gas station for the transportation industry.”
There are still many unanswered questions about Bloom Energy, but here are some more clues.
To check out more Fresh Dialogues VIDEO interview segments click here and check for other Fresh Dialogues video interview segments with lots more PRODUCT AND BUSINESS PLAN DETAIL about Bloom Energy.
Laurie Yoler, a managing director of Growth Point Technology Partners, was a founding board member of Tesla Motors and currently serves on its advisory board. I met with her at the FountainBlue Clean Green Annual Conference on Friday January 29th, the day Tesla announced its planned IPO. Needless to say, Yoler was bullish about Tesla’s prospects this year. We also discussed President Obama’s State of the Union Speech on January 27th and the government’s role in stimulating green technology.
Good news for Green Tech Venture Capitalists in State of Union Speech?
“Rather than what our president said that night, I look at what’s actually taking place, the changes I’m seeing. President Obama as a president has embraced sustainability throughout his tenure.”
Robert Ballard, the ocean explorer of Titanic famesat down with me in Silicon Valley to discuss his expeditions, global warming, and alternative energy. This respected scientist spoke candidly about global warming -“I’ll be honest, it’s too late, all the ice is going to melt.” READ the TRANSCRIPT
On the global warming controversy: Natural cycle or Human impact?
“Hey folks: it’s both. Whenever you have a tremendous controversy both sides tend to be right and wrong. You do have the natural interglacial warming that we’re experiencing, but you are increasing the severity of it with the human footprint. The concern most people have is that we can’t do much about the natural cycle, but we can do a lot about the human cycle. ..if you steepen it too much, evolution can’t keep up and you get extinction.”
On being Politically Correct
“Sometimes I see this tombstone that says, “the human race came and went but it was politically correct.” As a scientist I am not politically correct. My job is not to be politically correct. My job is to call it as I see it. And I see that the biggest problem the human race has is that there are too many of us.”
On the need to reduce our carbon footprint (more…)
Last week, I sat down with Emmett Carson, President and CEO of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. In a wide ranging conversation on green jobs, the Obama White House, education and financial literacy, we focused in on the role of the $1.7 Billion Foundation in addressing the immediate job crisis in Silicon Valley. How should coalitions of green minded people come together to create a green jobs mecca in the Bay Area? How do you jump start a green jobs explosion? According to Emmett, it’s all about forging informed dialogues between powerful coalitions.
On Creating a Green Jobs Mecca
“There has to be a group of people who are going to make some strategic investments…There are coalitions of green folk who are already meeting… where government officials can help, where foundations folk can help and be attuned and listen to what they say they need and where there opportunities will be. So that you start to say to the community colleges, ‘here are the kinds of jobs to train people for.’ What are the jobs that are going to stay around for a ten year cycle? This is the more thoughtful, longer term thinking that we need all of our public leaders to engage in…if we’re really going to have that green jobs explosion.”
Elise Zoli, a partner with Goodwin Procter, is a specialist in energy and clean tech law; and teaches at MIT. I caught up with her at a Fountain Blue Green Transport Event where we discussed two hot areas in clean tech: energy storage and nuclear power. Elise explains the important role of energy storage in making solar and wind energy more reliable; and why she’d like to redefine energy storage to make it sexy. She’s coining a new phrase: “dispatchable renewable power.”
On making energy storage sexy
“Energy storage sounds like something that you don’t want to talk about, something that belongs in the closet. But the idea is to enable renewables (solar and wind) to have a greater chunk of the American demand…integrated storage flattens out the intermittency issues.”
On nuclear power
“The N word is difficult in the context of renewable …but most experts who look at climate change and energy security believe there is a significant role for nuclear. “
On nuclear waste and other impacts
“Nuclear has a favorable balance of environmental impacts. Every technology, even solar and wind, have their externalities. On balance, does it advance our climate change goals? The technology deserves to be considered.”
“For the traveling wave reactor they actually consume waste as fuel. The promise of the technology is to reduce waste…The material will be managed in place as opposed to having a long term waste repository.”
This is Part Two of the interview.
To check out Part One, where Elise explores the government’s role in clean tech and the stimulus package,click here.
The interview was recorded at the FountainBlue Clean Green Transport Conference in Santa Clara on July 6, 2009.
