With the increasing use of artificial intelligence, more pressure has been placed on the construction of data centers. Currently, the United States has the largest number of data centers of any country in the world, with around 5,400 facilities. The second country, Germany, only has 520. These data centers, while revolutionary, require large amounts of electricity necessary for production. When asked, Senior Wilson Ferguson said, “I’m worried about all of the environmental impacts from [data centers] because of all of the emissions.” Wilson’s worries mirror those of millions of Americans; however, one company is leading the charge in providing clean, efficient electricity for these extensive facilities.
Founded in 2001, Bloom Energy is responsible for manufacturing a large percentage of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) sold to data centers. These cells have revolutionized the energy game because, rather than burning fuels, they use an electrochemical reaction to convert fuel into electricity. Fuels like natural gas and oil are often burned to create heat, which makes steam turn a turbine, and the turbine powers a generator to convert the fuel into electricity. This process is slow and pollutes the environment with particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur oxides. Using an electrochemical reaction, the cells created by Bloom Energy skip this slow, harmful process and turn fuels into electricity directly by moving electrons through a circuit, similar to how batteries operate. Bloom’s process is also much more energy efficient: more electricity is derived from a fuel source using one of Bloom’s fuel cells than the traditional combustion method. Another benefit of Bloom’s electricity generation is less water usage. Traditional combustion facilities often use large amounts of water for cooling purposes, while bloom uses almost no water. This feature is extremely crucial, especially in drought-prone regions, where many data centers are currently being built due to the presence of isolated areas.
Bloom’s stock has exploded because of urgent power demand from data centers. The company has secured several critical deals to supply fuel, including a recent 900 MW AI power deal with American Electric Power (AEP), which resulted in the stock rising 35% to $134. Senior Gabriel Tesler says, “After learning about energy in Environmental Science this year, it makes sense why the stock rose so much. I wish I bought it a year ago.” While it would have been ideal to invest in the company at its 20$ stock price last year, Bloom Energy is still a strategic long-term buy, as its technology will remain extremely useful for the foreseeable future.
