Bloomin' Amazin'?

Or just another doomed to fail energy panacea?

I've been following this particular story for quite a while - it has always seemed just to good to be true. But, it seems that it has been commercialised successfully already, as this clip from CBS shows (be patient and let it get past the annoying adverts).

The Bloom Box fuel cell still burns fuel - natural gas, bio-gas, synthetic gas etc., and cryptically, the inventor claims it can run off solar (though I cannot see how), but converts it directly to electricity very efficiently without excessive noise or the need for huge power plants.

If (and its a big IF) it can be scaled up to mass production readily, we could see homes producing all their own electricity independent from the national grid in 10 to 15 years time.

It will be interesting to see just if, how, and when, this innovative technology gets into the domestic market.