Fuels cells to change laptop use
By Mark Ward
Technology Correspondent, BBC News website, in Hanover
Soon you could be running your laptop computer all day without a recharge as commercial versions of fuel cells go on sale.
At the Cebit technology fair in Hanover, Taiwanese hi-tech firm Antig said its fuel cells should be on the shelves of computer shops by early 2007.
The first versions of the methanol-using units should keep a laptop going for up to nine hours.
Fuel cell technology got a boost recently when international air flight regulators changed rules that banned passengers from carrying flammable methanol onto aircraft.
Linnet Tsai, deputy marketing manager for Antig, said the first fuel cells to go on sale would marry familiar lithium-ion batteries with the methanol-based technology.
Instead of storing power, fuel cells generate electricity by breaking down methanol via an electrochemical process.
The fuel cells can be recharged by topping them up with methanol from a cartridge.
These "hybrid" devices will work with existing laptops and will fit into the media bay - typically the location of the CD/DVD drive.
Laws changing
Ms Tsai said its manufacturing partner was currently evaluating the finished product - a process that could take up to six months.
Preparing sales channels and the delivery system so consumers find it easy to get hold of methanol cartridges will take a few more months.
But she was hopeful that Antig fuel cells would be on sale by early 2007.
She added that international air travel laws would limit the attractiveness of fuel cells before that date.
"There used to be restrictions on passengers to take methanol on flights," said Ms Tsai.
But, she explained, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) recently changed its guidelines to allow passengers to take methanol cartridges with them when they travel.
Ms Tsai said the change in regulations come into force in January 2007.
"The regulations are coming along, the product is coming along and the third part with the infrastructure for the cartridges is coming along, too," Ms Tsai added.
This is awesome news, but it sounds like that you'll have to remove your DVD drive in order to use it, which means that I won't be able to have non-stop gaming sessions on long-haul flights .
Articles, opinions and rants from an astrophysicist: Cosmic Journeys
Old Peculier wrote:Surely you could use the cell externally somehow. Or use a CD crack (that's legal right if you have the CD right?)
Anyhow, I'm glad to hear that new cell/battery technologies are turning into products already. Roll on nuclear powered Game Boy!
Daemontools?
I don't think it's legal (DMCA and all that). But then again, who's going to know... heck, playing DVDs under Linux is illegal...
Also, my cynical gut feelings make me suspect the methanol cartridges will also be rather expensive... (yeah, methanol is cheap, but the markup...)
ah.....the path to happiness is revision of dreams and not fulfillment... -SWPIGWANG
Sufficient Googling is indistinguishable from knowledge -somebody
Anything worth the cost of a missile, which can be located on the battlefield, will be shot at with missiles. If the US military is involved, then things, which are not worth the cost if a missile will also be shot at with missiles. -Sea Skimmer
George Bush makes freedom sound like a giant robot that breaks down a lot. -Darth Raptor
I'd prefer they use ethanol because a) it's easier to get a hold of (you can use vodka, for heaven's sake!) and b) it won't kill you if you somehow drink it.
Admiral Valdemar wrote:I'd prefer they use ethanol because a) it's easier to get a hold of (you can use vodka, for heaven's sake!) and b) it won't kill you if you somehow drink it.
Ah, but then they'd have to add denaturing additives, which would discourage drinking but at the same time not mess up the engergy generation mechanism and would also not be fatal if ingested. Otherwise they'd risk running afoul of alcohol regs.
This will be awesome if it does what they say and it's not too expensive. I definitely agree that ethanol would be preferable, though. Not to mention that it would be really cool to refuel a computer with moonshine.
Most people are too stupid to breathe reliably. I'm sure we cynical SDNetizens can agree on this.
Now, do we want the unwashed masses to be allowed to bring flammable substances onto our flights? How safe will the refill cartridges be?
Other than that, I'm pleases that we're making some progress on fuel cells. So far, progress has been slow and broken promises many.
As for the DVD-bay thing: I'm sure they're talking about a transitional design, kinda like "retro-fitting" current designs with fuel cells. In time, they'll probably replace the NiCad battery entirely, and fill that space with the fuel cell. So eventually you will be able to use both your DVD and fuel-cell power together.
Admiral Valdemar wrote:I'd prefer they use ethanol because a) it's easier to get a hold of (you can use vodka, for heaven's sake!) and b) it won't kill you if you somehow drink it.
Which means if the fuel cell starts running out, all you have to do is order a couple shots of liquor from the stewardess.
ø¤ º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
(Whatever is said in Latin sounds profound.)
I like Celine Dion myself. Her ballads alone....they make me go all teary-eyed and shit.
- Havok
Admiral Valdemar wrote:I'd prefer they use ethanol because a) it's easier to get a hold of (you can use vodka, for heaven's sake!) and b) it won't kill you if you somehow drink it.
Which means if the fuel cell starts running out, all you have to do is order a couple shots of liquor from the stewardess.
You beat me too it. I was thinking of how nifty those small bottles that had on planes were....hmmm "I`ll take two, one for me and one for my lap top."
Brotherhood of the Bear Monkey Clonemaster , Anti Care Bears League,
Bureaucrat and BOFH of the HAB,
Skunk Works director of the Mecha Maniacs,
Black Mage,
Old Peculier wrote:Surely you could use the cell externally somehow. Or use a CD crack (that's legal right if you have the CD right?)
Anyhow, I'm glad to hear that new cell/battery technologies are turning into products already. Roll on nuclear powered Game Boy!
I don't think they are, however, you can use Daemontools (rip a CD, mount the CD, thus tricking the system into thinking the CD is still in the disk drive at all times).
Typhonis 1 wrote:
You beat me too it. I was thinking of how nifty those small bottles that had on planes were....hmmm "I`ll take two, one for me and one for my lap top."
A university over here did just that. They got their laptop working off a fuel-cell that used vodka straight out of the bottle, 80% v/v ethanol, IIRC. Far better than buying more power cells at £50 a pop or spending hours charging them for 120 minutes full use.
WyrdNyrd wrote:Most people are too stupid to breathe reliably. I'm sure we cynical SDNetizens can agree on this.
Now, do we want the unwashed masses to be allowed to bring flammable substances onto our flights? How safe will the refill cartridges be?
How many commercial airliners have been brought down by Zippo accidents?
Any city gets what it admires, will pay for, and, ultimately, deserves…We want and deserve tin-can architecture in a tinhorn culture. And we will probably be judged not by the monuments we build but by those we have destroyed.--Ada Louise Huxtable, "Farewell to Penn Station", New York Times editorial, 30 October 1963 X-Ray Blues
WyrdNyrd wrote:Most people are too stupid to breathe reliably. I'm sure we cynical SDNetizens can agree on this.
Most people are frankly smarter than you project.
And most people aren't the enormous pains in the ass that you are, else we'd all need proctologists.
My original comment was based on the assumption that the laws against flammable liquids were in place for a reason. If, however, they were an over-reaction on the part of the authorities, I'm sure someone here will enlighten me.
.
You beat me too it. I was thinking of how nifty those small bottles that had on planes were....hmmm "I`ll take two, one for me and one for my lap top."
