Last night's 60 Minutes featured a report on the Bloom Box, a compact system of fuel cells from Bloom Energy that could bring cleaner, lower-cost power to homeowners and industry.

Inventor K.R. Sridhar (his hands are shown holding four cubes that he claims can produce enough electricity to power the average American home) detailed how individual disks in the fuel cell combine oxygen and energy to produce a chemical reaction. Traditional fuel cells use expensive and difficult-to-handle hydrogen as a fuel, but, says Sridhar, the Bloom Box can use fossil fuels, waste gas from landfills, or solar energy to power the reaction.

Companies such as Google, Walmart, eBay, and FedEx are already using larger stacks of the blocks at their facilities in California, where state and federal tax credits for alternative-energy systems defray their  steep cost. Srindar believes that greater production could drop the price of a Bloom Box big enough to power the average U.S. home to under $3,000.

—Gian Trotta

Essential information: Our Energy Saving & Green Living guide includes information on alternative-energy systems like the Honeywell Wind Turbine WT6500, Dow Solar Solutions Powerhouse Solar Shingles, and solar water heaters. Discuss the Bloom Box and other green ideas on our energy saving at home and heating, cooling, and air forums.