Bloom Box: Home Energy of the Future

Assuming you’re not 120 years old, you probably missed 60 Minutes last night in favor of something…anything…else. Well, you actually missed something really interesting on the episode–the Bloom Box. This little power plant has the potential of being a tiny, in-home generator that costs just $3,000. If the device reaches full fruition, it could help replace the large, cumbersome power grid supplying power today. Two blocks would be required for an average U.S. home.

The Bloom Box is a fuel cell that combines oxygen with some form of fuel (solar, natural gas, bio-gas) to create a chemical reaction that provides power. Currently, the technology is still a long ways from its intended small, practical form factor–current generation Bloom Boxes are approximately the size of four refrigerators and cost in the range of $700,000 to $800,000. However, some pretty well-known and savvy customers have been among the first to use Bloom Boxes including Google and Wal-Mart. Altogether, 20 companies are currently using the technology.

Bloom Energy hopes to have the $3,000 household-size box complete within the next five to 10 years. The company will unveil full details this Wednesday, but you can catch a preview in the 60 Minutes clip below and decide for yourself: vaporware or revolutionary technology. [via Dvice and Engadget]