1 of 6

Bloom Energy has secured exemptions to all-electric new construction ordinances in cities across California to allow for their “natural gas”-powered fuel cells. Here’s what that could mean for our community.

KEEP OUR CITY'S FUTURE FREE OF FOSSIL FUELS

2 of 6

Bloom purports that, since their fuel cells operate without combustion, they significantly reduce environmental impacts. However, Bloom’s self-reported emissions data tell another story.

Bloom Energy cites reliability during occasional power outages as the best argument to exempt fuel cells from local electrification ordinances, but their natural gas fuel cells are not designed for back-up power.

In fact, Bloom's natural gas-powered fuel cells are designed to run continuously and provide an alternative source of baseload electricity for the customer on-site. They evade the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standards and undermine local efforts to decarbonize the grid.

3 of 6

when compared to the equivalent amount of power produced by PG&E. The difference is even more stark when compared to local community choice aggregation options, like Silicon Valley Clean Energy.

For every MWh of energy produced, Bloom Energy's natural gas-powered

fuel cells generate

OVER QUADRUPLE THE CARBON EMISSIONS

4 of 6

gasoline-powered passenger vehicles driven for one year.

For a 1-megawatt (MW) system,

Bloom Energy fuel cells produce up to an additional

2,536 Metric Tons of CO2e*

annually when compared to PG&E’s baseload power supplemented with diesel generators for occasional back-up power.

That’s equivalent to

* CO2e refers to carbon dioxide equivalent, including emissions from carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O).

546

Emissions factors:

Using the maximum emissions factor provided by Bloom Energy: https://www.bloomenergy.com/resource/how-bloom-reduces-emissions-technical-note/#:~:text=At%20Bloom%20Energy%2C%20we%20work,natural%20gas%20produce%20carbon%20emissions.
Emissions factor provided by PG&E: https://www.pge.com/pge_global/common/pdfs/about-pge/environment/what-we-are-doing/pge-climate-goals/PGE-Climate-Strategy-Report.pdf

Capacity assumptions: Fuel cells are operating with a 95% capacity factor, as recommended by the manufacturer.

Diesel back-up power assumptions:

Assumes operation of diesel back-up power for 2.12875 days/year, the highest System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) (indicating the total duration of interruption for the average customer during a predefined time period) of any PG&E power division in the year 2021. See section 2.a, Table 5, Sierra Division, of PG&E's 2021 Annual Electric Reliability Report: https://www.pge.com/pge_global/common/pdfs/outages/planning-and-preparedness/safety-and-preparedness/grid-reliability/electric-reliability-reports/CPUC-2021-Annual-Electric-Reliability-Report.pdf
Emissions factor of diesel generators from EPA AP-42: Compilation of Air Emissions Factors, Table 3.3-1 (originally given in lb/hp-hr) and from US Community Protocol for GHG inventories, Appendix B Table B.3 (originally given in kg/MMBtu)

5 of 6

In order to cancel out the additional emissions produced by a single

1-megawatt (MW) system of Bloom Energy fuel cells when compared to PG&E, our community would have to electrify

1,268 single family homes.

6 of 6

Allowing new facilities to install gas-powered fuel cells extends the continued build-out of gas infrastructure at the same time we’re trying to wean our buildings off gas. ��Fortunately, there are other ways for large facilities to ensure uninterrupted power. Advanced solar with battery storage systems have proven to be a source of reliable back-up power for mission-critical facilities like hospitals and airports.

Since gas-powered fuel cells are both damaging to the climate and unnecessary, we must resist attempts to water down our electrification ordinances.

In a world of impending climate catastrophe, it’s vital to electrify everything.

Just say NO to special-interest exemptions: No gas means no gas!

No gas means no gas!