The Bloom Box: An Energy Breakthrough?

(From CBS News) In the world of energy, the Holy Grail is a power source that's inexpensive and clean, with no emissions. Well over 100 start-ups in Silicon Valley are working on it, and one of them, Bloom Energy, is about to make public its invention: a little power plant-in-a-box they want to put literally in your backyard.

You'll generate your own electricity with the box and it'll be wireless. The idea is to one day replace the big power plants and transmission line grid, the way the laptop moved in on the desktop and cell phones supplanted landlines.

It has a lot of smart people believing and buzzing, even though the company has been unusually secretive - until now.

K.R. Sridhar invited "60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl for a first look at the Bloom box that he has been toiling on for nearly a decade.   


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NAI Commerce One broker Brent Wilson said, "I think this new invention could be bigger than the lightbulb." 

What do you think?  Read the full story: The Bloom Box: An Energy Breakthrough? at CBSNews.com.