Federal Lawsuit Regarding Bloom Energy

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/06/21/884-May-Be-Bloom-Energys-Fatal-Number-Fuel-Cell-Efficiency-Federal-State-Tax-Credits

“Buried deep in the permit application, in Table 1 on page 161 of a 163-page application, was the number 884. On that page, under penalty of perjury, Bloom officially told the world that its energy servers emit 884 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour.”

Also buried on page 161 of the permit application is a Table 2 notation that says these 235 “clean” servers would emit 22.56 pounds of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) per day. But Delaware, like other states, regulates VOC emissions at far lower levels (Maryland, for instance, regulates boat repair shops that emit more than 15 pounds per day). Moreover, if the same amount of power had been generated by combined cycle gas turbines, only 0.249 pounds of VOCs would be emitted daily. That’s 90 times less pollution!

To top it off, because of the Bloom servers’ low efficiency and high capital cost, Delaware citizens will pay Bloom over $200 per megawatt hour of power delivered to their electricity transmission grid. But in January 2012, the U.S. Energy Information Agency said the projected “levelized” cost of electricity over the next 30 years from advanced gas-fired combined cycle power stations is $65.50 per MWH.

Here’s an alternate theory. Apple became frustrated with EPEAT because the standard wasn’t adapting to give Apple credit for many of its environmental practices. So, Apple pulled its products. This brought EPEAT back to the table and Apple backed off.

Apple tried to undermine the certification by abandoning it and they failed. Now, they’re working to see the standard changed to suit instead.

Different tactic, same result…

The continued protection of Apple’s enviable profit margins and inventory turnover by way of glued together, unservicable gadgets with 12 month refresh cycles.

Seems like that may be the bigger story: helping standards keep up with innovation.