Blooming Energy

So, there is a really cool technology that is being developed that could revolutionize the way we get electricity. Unfortunately, there's still a lot of debate surrounding the unveiling of this new "Bloom Box", but the prospects of this new energy generator could help third-world countries like Laos.

 

Here's a helpful article to get you up-to-speed on the new The Bloom Box.

This is the general idea: fuel cells take a fuel (such as methanol) and feed it oxygen alongside a catalyst and it reacts creating electricity and emitting exhaust. But for Laos and other smaller developing countries, it could (large could) revolutionize life if (a big if) the technology works well.

A big problem here is infrastructure. Our power, water, and internet all go out regularly from various construction or other problems. A Bloom Box could potentially distribute the electrical generation to individual villages or areas and limit the need for a lot of wires and massive distribution schemes. It could also provide electricity for very remote villages that have little access and take days to get to. It would also provide stable power for other technologies to thrive. The possiblities are endless given the idea of a distributable, cheap fuel-fed, power box.

Of course, this all has a lot of 'IF's and there is a lot of cost yet to producing a fuel cell (see the $800,000 US dollar price tag for the thing).

But this step is one that is similar to the cell phone revolution here in Asia. Cell phones have now connected the country in ways that previously were simply untenable. They now provide internet (more stable than our DSL connection at our house), texting, calls, and a platform for other technologies (see my post about using students MP3 cell phones to create a listening lab) including web based applications.

I'm hoping the Bloom Box does well and would possibly help change the energy problems/needs here in Laos (not in the immediate future but hopefully someday).