Bloom Energy continued its journey out of stealth mode, unveiling its new fuel cell which  produces electricity from a chemical reaction.   It purports to eliminate the need for burning, combustion and power lines.  Beta customers include eBay, Google, Lockheed, Wal-Mart, Staples and the CIA.  Backlog and sales are reported as being in the $2 billion range.

• 60 minutes video and info
• Bloom Energy website
• GreenTechMedia comments
• Earth2Tech comments
• Huffington Post comments

Additional contact info:
Web:  www.TKGweb.com,  Twitter: @tonyparham

There have been quite a few interesting articles regarding the smart grid of late.  Here are just a few:

• Smart Grid 101 – a collection of articles summarizes key concepts/issues
• Power Guys vs. Netheads – A Smart Grid Culture War?
• List of 100 SGIG winners – Selected winners in the Smart Grid Investment Grant (SGIG) program, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
• Article regarding high quality of the SGIG “losers”

The February, 2010 issue of Renew Grid indicates that the SGIG winners were selected from a group of almost 400 companies.  More than 200 professionals (from universities, national laboratories, federal agencies and private companies) assessed the proposals.   Electric distribution system enhancements were a key focus of selected companies, with 13 utilities receiving a total of more than $250M in grant money for that purpose.  The utilities that won grants were generally quite far along in their own plans to bolster their electricity networks before the grants were announced.

The grants were supported by $3.4B in ARRA funds.  (The sum of all the original grant requests exceeded $9B.)

Interestingly, a recent article suggest that some designated SGIG recipients may decide not to take the funds, over concerns that the grants may be taxable.

Additional contact info:
Web:  www.TKGweb.com,  Twitter: @tonyparham