Progressive Grocer - April 2010 - (Page 106)

Equipment The latest tools of the trade Blooming The Bloom Energy Server may replace the electrical grid with localized — and clean — sources of electricity. By Joseph Tarnowski Green Energy is W hat could be one of the most groundbreaking green energy solutions available today may soon be affordable for most retailers to incorporate into their operations. completed Energy Server deployments with 400-kilowatt systems at two Southern California retail locations. “At Walmart, our goal is to be supplied by 100 percent renewable energy,” Bill Simon, COO of Walmart U.S., said at Bloom’s launch, The Bloom Energy held last month at eBay Servers powering eBay’s headquarters in San corporate headquarters Jose, Calif. “To do this, have a footprint of just a few parking spaces. we are considering a number of emerging technologies, including Bloom Energy, to ensure they work for our business, help lower costs for our customers and reduce our impact on the environment. We hope to use our scale to help bring these technologies to market in a fast and cost-effective way.” Built using abundant and affordable materials, Bloom’s fuel cell technology is fundamentally different from the legacy “hydrogen” fuel cells most people are familiar with. The Bloom Energy Server Bloom Energy Corp., a Silicon Valley-based company committed to changing the way people generate and consume energy, last month launched the Bloom Energy Server, a patented solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology developed using common beach sand to provide a cleaner, more reliable and more affordable alternative to both today’s electric grid and traditional renewable energy sources. What’s more, it provides distributed power generation, allowing customers to efficiently create their own electricity on-site. The startup has already received hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from several venture capital firms, including major investor Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. John Doerr, a partner at the Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital firm, is a Bloom Energy board member, as is Colin Powell, and the company has strong support from California’s Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Wa l m a r t , More ONLINE Coca-Cola, eBay For additional equipment and Google are information, go to among Bloom’s Progressivegrocer.com/ early customers. equip Walmart has • Progressive Grocer • April 2010 is distinct in four primary ways: it uses lower-cost materials, provides strong efficiency in converting fuel to electricity, has the ability to run on a wide range of renewable or traditional fuels, and is more easily deployed and maintained. And unlike traditional renewable energy technologies like solar and wind, which are intermittent, Bloom’s technology can provide renewable power 24/7. “Bloom Energy is dedicated to making clean, reliable energy affordable for everyone in the world,” said Dr. K.R. Sridhar, principal co-founder and CEO of Bloom Energy. “We believe that we can have the same kind of impact on energy that the mobile phone had on communications. Just as cell phones circumvented landlines to proliferate telephony, Bloom Energy will enable the adoption of distributed power as a smarter, localized energy source.” This means replacing traditional electrical grids with localized, cleaner sources. Powder to Power: How it Works Although the company was founded in 2001, Bloom Energy’s roots date back to the NASA Mars space program. For NASA, Sridhar and his team were charged with building technology to help sustain life on Mars using solar energy and water to produce air to breathe and fuel for transportawww.progressivegrocer.com 106 http://www.Progressivegrocer.com/equip http://www.Progressivegrocer.com/equip http://www.progressivegrocer.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Progressive Grocer - April 2010

Progressive Grocer - April 2010
Table of Contents
Nielsen’s Shelf Stoppers/Spotlight: Baby Needs/Baby Powder
The Lempert Report: Ways to Improve the Nutrition Facts Panel
Best Practices: The Employee Satisfaction, Productivity and Profit Connection
State of the Industry Report: Looking Up, Cautiously
Store of the Month: Standing Ovation
GMA President’s Note: Tackling Obesity: A New Blueprint for Success
Natural Meat: Where Was the Beef?
Produce: Swinging Springtime Sales
Beverage Alcohol: The Case for Beer
Breakfast Foods: The Start of Something Big
Dairy: Probiotics in Dairy and Frozen: A Healthy Pursuit
Baby Care: The Dry Season
Pet Care and Supplies: Where the Margin Is
Case Study: King of the Jungle
Tech Toolbox: A Look at the Latest Solutions
Foodservice: No Strain, No Pain
Sustainability: Green Energy is Blooming
What’s Next: Editors’ Picks for Innovative Products

Progressive Grocer - April 2010