Me:
This is unlikely to be successful. Like that guy said (paraphrased), "20% chance of it being in your basement in the future, but it will say GE". If GE and Seimens spend billions each year to research and patent this stuff, who says they haven't already discovered something just like this but didn't produce it due to costs and low market value? The other problem with the lack of grid due to replacement by the these boxes is the subsequent lack of infrastructure. Just as the Internet architecture has redundancy, so does the power grid.
The one dissenting guy was the smartest one of them all because he understands how infrastructure, industry, and technology works; I'll bet the VC was fine with it being sold on a small scale and was not counting on it being in everyone's basement. If he is expecting a revolution then he will be looking at a failure for sure.
While a few large companies can use these boxes effectively, they also have the capital to invest and can make up substantial monetary savings even at low percentages. A home buyer is not going to be interested in spending thousands of dollars for something that they will still need to feed natural gas and that will need much more maintenance than the copper cables they already have. If you were to install the infrastructure for this, you would need to run high pressure gas lines to every home, which is costlier and far less safe than running cables.
Clifton has taken a fuel cells class and reminded me that no fuel cell company has ever turned a profit, and that fuel cells themselves are very sensitive to contaminants which cause it to completely cease functioning. I already knew the metals involved, and honestly do not find the prolific use of heavy metals to be a very appealing concept to have to manage at both the production and disposal levels. This goes for solar cells as well, they may not emit noxious gases while running, but they are highly toxic to make and dispose.
All in all, this guy will likely end up being bought for next to nothing by GE or will just fade into the background of failed Silicon Valley startups.
Clifton:
I think it will have a minor impact if any at all. I hate to be so negative about it but after having taken a class on it - it is still just a normal fuel cell, with the usual price tag on it. Nothing seemed new or innovative to me after watching the clip and considering that major corporations have bought the devices to "test" them doesn't really say anything either, as that's nothing new. In fact, GA Tech has a fuel cell stack behind the Boggs building for emergency power assistance, but we do not see them everywhere on campus.The one dissenting guy was the smartest one of them all because he understands how infrastructure, industry, and technology works; I'll bet the VC was fine with it being sold on a small scale and was not counting on it being in everyone's basement. If he is expecting a revolution then he will be looking at a failure for sure.
While a few large companies can use these boxes effectively, they also have the capital to invest and can make up substantial monetary savings even at low percentages. A home buyer is not going to be interested in spending thousands of dollars for something that they will still need to feed natural gas and that will need much more maintenance than the copper cables they already have. If you were to install the infrastructure for this, you would need to run high pressure gas lines to every home, which is costlier and far less safe than running cables.
Clifton has taken a fuel cells class and reminded me that no fuel cell company has ever turned a profit, and that fuel cells themselves are very sensitive to contaminants which cause it to completely cease functioning. I already knew the metals involved, and honestly do not find the prolific use of heavy metals to be a very appealing concept to have to manage at both the production and disposal levels. This goes for solar cells as well, they may not emit noxious gases while running, but they are highly toxic to make and dispose.
All in all, this guy will likely end up being bought for next to nothing by GE or will just fade into the background of failed Silicon Valley startups.
Clifton:
The video showed me that a lot of the problems which plague normal fuel cell designs; those being cost, fuel considerations and long term reliability - have not been fixed with these designs. I agree with the producer that the largest impact will be seen in remote areas where it is costly to maintain a power grid or connection, if one even exists at all. As the investor stated: "power companies will be the biggest purchasers", definitely true, because they will save money by doing so. However, will we see this in customer's homes when the price tag is ~3000 dollars? Probably not, as that price tag does not include fuel and maintenance costs - I feel that most customers would prefer to continue to pay their monthly electricity bill from the power company and not care about where the electricity is coming from.
Watch the clip, let me know how you feel about having a "Bloom Box".
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