Bloom Box promises to revolutionize home energy

A California company says it has a product that would allow homes and businesses to generate their own electricity. Bloom Energy said its Bloom Box will help the U.S. get rid of its dependency on foreign fuel and usher in a new era in green living.

Bloom co-founder and chief executive K.R. Sridhar says he's raised $400 million and plans to mass produce its solid oxide fuel cells boxes within the next couple of years.

PHOTOS: Bloom Energy and the Bloom Box

Google, FedEx and Wal-mart are already beta-testing the technology. EBay says its boxes produce electricity to power buildings that house 3,000 employees. The Bloom boxes saved Ebay $100,000 on its power bill.

The boxes produce electricty by converting natural gas, hydrogen or methane (readily available in landfills) through an electrochemical process that takes place inside the fuel cells that is virtual free of emissions.

The boxes can produce nearly 90 percent of a large building's needs, producing its electricity, heat and cooling. Sidhar said his technology could potentially cut greenhouse gases by 50 percent.

Unfortunately, the techonology isin't ready to hit the consumer market yet, as the commercial-scale boxes, which look like refrigerators, cost $700,000 to $800,000.

It looks like we can't expect to see the Bloom Box at the local Home Depot, but Sridhar did say he wants he wants to make the technology more realistic.

“We got into this business to make affordable electricity, not fuel cells,” Sridhar said.

Let's keep our fingers crossed.

PHOTOS: Bloom Energy and the Bloom Box