K. R. Sridhar born . 1960 is the founder and CEO of Bloom Energy. Sridhar earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Technology at Tiruchirappalli, India in 1982.He moved to the United States in the 1980s and got a M.S. in nuclear engineering and a PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Sridhar was the director of the Space Technologies Laboratory at the University of Arizona, which was asked by NASA to come up with ways to make life sustainable on Mars. The team then made a device to use solar power and Mars water to power a reactor cell that made oxygen to breathe and hydrogen to power vehicles. Sridhar led a project that built a Mars oxygen production cell using a yttria-stabilized zirconia solid-electrolyte ionic conductor to electrolyse carbon dioxide into oxygen and carbon monoxide. The oxygen production unit was to fly as part of the MIP ("Mars ISPP Precursor") experiment package.
On 24 February 2010, Bloom Energy launched a new energy-efficient and environmentally friendly fuel cell known as the Bloom Box. Natural gas (or any other fuel) and oxygen are run through a stack of cells, producing electricity. The energy was clean and inexpensive, but development and production of this fuel cell required a large initial investment ($100 million). Sridhar was able to obtain funding for the project from investors such as John Doerr (who was an early investor in companies such as Amazon and Google as well).
Sridhar predicts that a $3000 box could be in every home within the next five to ten years. Companies such as Adobe Systems, Ebay, Google, FedEx, and Wal-Mart have already purchased larger sized boxes.
Dr. Sridhar has served on many technical committees, panels and Advisory Boards. He has over fifty publications, and has performed pioneering work in the areas of Space Technology, Microsensors and Devices, Multiphase Flow, and Solid Oxide Electrolysis and Systems, the last of which is the basis of the technology being used at Bloom Energy.
The Bloom Electrons service allows customers to lock in their electricity rates for 10 years,delivering fixed predictable costs and significant savings versus the grid. Bloom manages and maintains the systems on the customers' sites and the customers pay only for the electricity consumed. This allows immediate cost savings with no initial investment, making onsite clean, reliable, affordable energy more accessible.
"Bloom Electrons is about providing universal access to clean, reliable, affordable energy. Empowering our customers to buy energy on their terms is another significant step on our journey to change the way energy is generated and consumed in the world," said KR Sridhar, principal co-founder and CEO of Bloom Energy. "We are thrilled to welcome new customers and take special pride in our repeat customers."
"Bloom Energy enables Caltech to more effectively carry out its core mission of research and education by providing cleaner, more economical and predictable power which ultimately helps us achieve our strategic infrastructure and sustainability goals"
"We are very pleased to have the opportunity to partner with Bloom Energy to structure Bloom Electrons, a unique service to secure baseload electricity. Bloom Energy has developed a technology that can transform the energy landscape and we look forward to supporting Bloom throughout its growth,"
To date, the Bloom Energy fleet has provided customers over 40 million kilowatt-hours and eliminated approximately 45 million pounds of CO2 emissions. Today's announcement of Bloom Electrons and the 200 new systems that will initially be deployed, represent the next step on the path to deliver clean, reliable and affordable energy to everyone in the world.
His plan is to generate energy locally through the use of solid-oxide fuel cells - a concept that people have been fiddling around with since the 19th century but that is now becoming practical with advances in the ceramics needed to build them. In addition, his vital role in developing a device for NASA to turn carbon dioxide into oxygen on Mars spearheaded the expedition to develop technologies to sustain life there.
With strategic alliances with venture capitalists KPCB, which has among many other notables, people of the stature of Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore- a man widely regarded as an authority on green energy and US Statesman Colin Powell, here is a person the world watches on with bated breath.
With strategic alliances with venture capitalists KPCB, which has among many other notables, people of the stature of Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore- a man widely regarded as an authority on green energy and US Statesman Colin Powell, here is a person the world watches on with bated breath.
