Scotty, We Need More Power!

By Alan

This was the rally cry from Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise to the Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott, typically when the Enterprise, or Starfleet, or Earth, or the entire Universe was in danger of being destroyed, and true to his efforts, the hardworking Scottish engineer manages something to save the day. Sure Kirk could find excuses to tear his shirt, kiss alien women, and give flying kicks to any opponent into next week, but Scotty saved the ship more often than anybody, and worked on a weapon bigger than anyone else. Anywhere.

But, the concept of ultimate energy in Star Trek was using matter and anti-matter fed (very carefully) into a reaction chamber and getting power out of it. Presumably that power was electricity.

Well, the hot topic in the news right now is Bloom Energy Servers, which are designed as modular fuel cell systems. A number of larger companies have started using the prototypes at the large scale. Obviously there is some promise of success if companies like Google, Coca-Cola, Bank of America, Staples, eBay, Cox Enterprises, Walmart and FedEx are involved.

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