Flower Power

FUEL CELLS

THE LAUNCH OF a power source is rarely a red carpet event. But Arnold Schwarzenegger and Colin Powell were on hand for the introduction of the Bloom Box, a solidoxide fuel cell touted as promising inexpensive, emission-free energy. So were top executives from Google, eBay, Wal-Mart, FedEx, and CocaCola. The brainchild of K.R. Srihar, former University of Arizona aerospace and mechanical engineering professor and director of the Space Technologies Laboratory, the Box can generate electricity wirelessly and is intended to replace big power plants and transmission-line grids the same way laptops offer alternatives to desktops and cellphones to landlines. Critics question the steep price - at present, one refrigerator-size unit costs $750,000 or more. But so far, Bloom Energy's customers have been more than satisfied. Last yea r, eBay saved over $ 1 00,000 on energy costs after the company purchased five units for its campus. And Srihar believes that over the next few years, he can reduce costs to $3,000 per unit, making the box commercially viable. If he's right, it will be springtime for fuel cells. - ALISON BUKI