by Shane Henson — July 29, 2011—AT&T and Bloom Energy Corporation, a provider of solid oxide fuel cell technology that generates clean, highly-efficient power onsite from a wide variety of fuel sources, have announced that Bloom Energy will install Bloom Energy Servers, or “Bloom Boxes,” at eleven AT&T sites in California. Bloom Boxes contain stacked fuel cells and will convert air and natural gas into electricity through a clean electrochemical process.
AT&T is reportedly the first telecommunications service provider to utilize Bloom Energy Servers to help power their operations. These Bloom Boxes are expected to produce more than 62 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy annually—enough to power more than 5,600 homes per year. Just as important, they will provide 7.5 megawatts (MW) of clean, reliable, affordable onsite power that reduces CO2 emissions by approximately 50 percent compared to the grid and virtually eliminates all SOx, NOx, and other harmful smog-forming particulate emissions.
The Bloom Energy Server installations will begin later this year, and will be fully operational by mid 2012, AT&T officials say.
