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In 'Full Bloom': EBay's Newest Data Center Is Powered Entirely by Fuel Cells
Green Technology Featured Articles
September 30, 2013

In 'Full Bloom': EBay's Newest Data Center Is Powered Entirely by Fuel Cells

By Cheryl Kaften
TMCnet Contributor

Time is money—and that’s especially true on eBay (News - Alert), the online auction site on which millions of collectibles, home furnishings, appliances, computers, vehicles, and other miscellaneous items are listed, bought, and sold daily. The heavy consumer usage creates an imperative to keep the website up and running, and the company’s data centers fully powered, every moment, day and night.


Now, eBay has announced that its newest data center has become the first in the world to use Bloom Energy Servers as its on-site power source, instead of drawing energy from the legacy electric grid. Built with patented solid oxide fuel cell technology, Bloom Energy Servers—nicknamed Bloom Boxes—represent a new class of power generators that produce clean, reliable, and affordable distributed power at a customer’s facility.

Fuel cells are similar to batteries, but they run continually. San Jose-based Bloom’s particular type of technology is different from conventional "hydrogen" fuel cells in that the cells use a common sand-like powder instead of precious metals, such as platinum, or corrosive materials like acids; They also work at extremely high-efficiency, converting fuel into electricity at nearly twice the  rate of some legacy technologies. 


Above, eBay’s newest data center in Utah is powered by Bloom Boxes. (Photo courtesy of eBay.)

Each Bloom Energy Server provides 200 kilowatts (kW) of power—enough to meet the baseload needs of 160 average homes or an office building, day and night, in roughly the footprint of a standard parking space. For more power, customers simply add more energy servers.

The new eBay data center, which is located in Salt Lake City, actually is adjacent to an existing eBay data center, which went online in 2010 and has been certified LEED Gold by the U.S. Green Building Council. But it will work far more efficiently. The Bloom fuel cells are expected to not only increase the center’s productivity and reduce its environmental impact (approximately 49 percent less CO2 emissions than in the first-phase data center), but also to boost the performance of the eBay commerce platforms by reducing the risk of outages.

“In this way, we’re seeing proof that environmental considerations go hand-in-hand with good business strategy,” the company stated.

In addition, the through eBay’s partnership with Round Rock, Texas-based computer provider Dell (News - Alert), today the auction site is deploying the world’s densest modular data center (called EPIC). Also, at 1.4 megawatts (MW) eBay is deploying the world’s largest modular data center (the HP EcoPOD) through its relationship with Palo Alto (News - Alert), California-based IT specialist Hewlett Packard.

On its blog, eBay comments, “These are just the latest in our long-standing collaborative relationships with both companies, and together they’ll help us enable more commerce globally. And while both companies collaborated with us to design modular data center solutions for our unique business needs, these innovations don’t just benefit us; any company can now deploy them and potentially realize similar gains in their operations. In this way, we hope to help propel the entire industry forward.”

What’s more, “to underscore our continuing commitment to greener commerce,” eBay has announced an investment with Reno, Nevada-based Ormat Technologies Inc.—an alternative and renewable energy technology company— to develop an off-site waste heat recovery solution that will provide cleaner energy to its data centers and the rest of its facilities in Utah. Once construction is complete, approximately 18 months from now, eBay will be able to capture and convert enough heat from the natural gas pipeline (the same one feeding into its Bloom fuel cells) to provide up to 5 MW of electricity supply.

“With this investment,” the eBay states, “we anticipate that we’ll be able to reach, and possibly surpass, our goal of sourcing at least 8 percent of [our] energy from cleaner sources by 2015.”




Edited by Ryan Sartor


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