PolyFuel announced yesterday that they have a working prototype of their methanol fuel cell laptop which they will demonstrating across the consumer electronics industry. The prototype is a Lenovo T40 that uses a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). This technology converts methanol to electricity to run the computer.
As consumers are becoming more an more conscious of their impact on the world around us, they are demanding cleaner and greener technology. Fuel Cell technology will be a welcome alternative in the consumer electronics market helping replace those relics with their planned obsolescence and toxic materials.
The benefit of the of the DMFC is that it uses a renewable fuel, Methanol (aka wood or methyl alcohol) that can be refilled. The fuel cell can be made from biodegradable or recyclable material and when it has reached it's end of life does not have to end up in a land fill or a costly hazardous waste processing facility.
A single cartridge can provide 10 hours of battery life and that is most likely not running at full capacity. Researcher's theorize that if they can get the cell operating at 100% capacity they will be able to get 10 times the power of a similarly size Lithium Ion battery.
PolyFuel's prototype battery is slightly larger than the OEM battery for the Lenovo, however it is considerably lighter and currently offers 3x the battery life. There is still no word when they expect these to be to market but they do say that fuel cell powered consumer electronics are feasible within 2-3 years. It is just nice to know that there is a working prototype and that this long anticipated technology is not merely vaporware.
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awesome.
and
I hope so…
I… Fail to see how this is a good idea. How can using a polluting fuel can be good for the environment?.. Furthermore a fuel that contribute to world hunger and increase price of the food… And I never threw my laptop in the garbage because of the batterie. I recharge it or I change it. What about the rest of the composants? Is it a least a good computer, than can least many years?
Daemonia:
“… a fuel cell that contribute to world hunger and increase the price of food…”
Yeah right.
A long time ago, methanol was produced by dry-destillation of wood, hence the trivial name “wood spirit”. Today, methanol is produced from natural gas (methane) off the petroleum fields of the world. It does not in any was subtract from available food.
Fuel cells are a Good Idea. If nothing else, then for the longer operation time. But Daemonia is right about the CO2, though. The best would be hydrogen fuel cells.
The CO2 produced by DMFC’s is really not a concern becasue it is porduced in such low amounts. People want to eliminate CO2 at all costs, but that’s not realistic in a chemical process. You see CO2 and assume the process must be bad and that’s simply not true. What needs to be examined is the amount of CO2 saved throughout the entire process and not as an end result of the Fuel Cell’s reaction. Compare the amount of CO2 output from the fuel cell to the amount generated by coal burning power plants required to charge the original battery of the laptop.
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