Every computer user utilizes energy.  If it is not the laptop or web enabled phone battery, it is in the datacenter that the computers connect to.  This technology being released by bloom energy is another possible technology to lower our cost of computing.   Data centers take an enormous amount of energy.  Normally I would ignore such hype as this however it is reported this is in production with Google and EBay for over a year. 

In the data center I have toyed with the idea of running a turbine off of natural gas taking the heat of the turbine through a converter to create Cold water, and then run that cold water through all of the various CRAC (Computer Room Air Conditioner) units.  This is unique because it does not burn the hydrocarbon but it does use it.  It produces half of the carbon dioxide a normal power plant does when producing a similar amount of energy.  The big barrier is cost.  If the cost can be dropped significantly we have just found that product to help reduce one of the highest costs in the internet economy, Power.

For the home user, I see an additional cost savings.  Fuel cells create heat.  Route your pipes away from the hot water heater and through this.  Could it be the tank less water heater on steroids?

There is a countdown for the news release at Bloomenergy. 

The 60 Minutes interview is here in its entirety including a video’s.