AN ENERGY revolution started last week that will see fridge-sized boxes in every building generate electricity on demand from natural gas or biogas. At least, that was the story told by the publicity and excitement around the celebrity-backed debut of Californian company .
The firm’s solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), dubbed “Bloom boxes” by the media, are already being trialled by eBay, Google and Coca-Cola, and Bloom says they can shrink a building’s carbon footprint by half.
Bloom’s claims are plausible, despite few details being released. But the company isn’t the vanguard of a revolution in electricity supply; the revolution has already begun. Several more…
