[5] According to the San Francisco Chronicle, that year Bloom had "a coming-out party packed with politicians and Silicon Valley elite.

Bloom Energy traces its roots to work performed by KR Sridhar in connection with creating a technology to convert Martian atmospheric gases to oxygen for propulsion and life support.

Sridhar and his team built an electrochemical cell for NASA capable of producing air and fuel from electricity generated by a solar panel.

[8][9] Initially, the company produced about one fuel cell appliance per day[10] before opening a factory in Newark, Delaware in April 2012.

[9] Bloom filed an initial public offering that July, stating that it did not expect to be profitable in the near-term and disclosing a legal settlement with some of its investors.

"[23] Instead of precious metals, Bloom Energy's fuel cells use wafers made from sand that are stained with proprietary ink.

[26] Data from the state of Delaware found that Bloom's fuel cells produce about 823 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour.

[27] This is less than the ~1,000 pounds produced when power is taken from the electrical grid, but more than the 777 Bloom used to advertise without taking into consideration the declining efficiency of the appliances with age.