UCSB, SCE and Bloom Energy have installed a 200-kilowatt fuel cell on campus to evaluate an emerging power generation technology. The Bloom Energy Server produces clean, reliable, and affordable electricity on-site. The system utilizes a unique fuel cell technology, which converts fuel into electricity via an electro-chemical process, without any combustion or harmful, smog-forming particulates.
The new server generates power 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It produces more than 1.75 million kilowatt hours annually, enough to power about 160 average U.S. homes. The system is extremely efficient, cutting carbon emissions by almost 30 percent, nearly eliminating nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide pollution, and producing electricity using 99.99 percent less water than an average power plant.