Enzyme Bio-Battery Runs on Ethanol

mpthompson writes "According to this article at New Scientist.com substantial progress is being made on enzyme-catalyzed ethanol based batteries to run cell phones and laptops. Such batteries promise to be cheaper, safer and less toxic than previously demonstrated methanol based fuel cells."

Comments

How much safer?

[HaloZero]

One of the major infirmities with the previously concieved designs was that I couldn't put it in my laptop and then take it on a plane - a plane being a major place where I'd like to have an unlimited (refillable) battery supply, as most planes don't offer 120v outlets for AC adapters. If this can overcome the safety risks involved with that venture, I'm sold.

On another note, what else can it do? :P

Re:How much safer?

[Jeremiah Blatz]

First of all, ethanol isn't banned on airplanes. Hell, they hand out free bottles of it on intrnational flights. (Hello, vodka!)

Also, new planes will soon have power on all seats. The only reason that they don't is that they can currently get people to pay for business-class upgrades in order to get juice. All new 777's have individual LCD monitors for each seat in coach class, a couple years ago, you had to crane your neck in order to see the in-flight movie. It will take a while, but as soon as one airline (I'm guessing British Air) orders it on their planes, everyone will quickly have it. Yay, capitalism!

OTOH, a power-source that was cheap, safe, power-dense, and refillable would be really cool. THe current solution of carrying around extra LiIon packs is not really doable. If they could get power densities good enough that a couple tiny bottles of ethanol could keep your laptop going for 8 hours, it would make mobile computing much easier. The only problem would be the regulation of fuel sales. Would you have to go to the liquor store to buy more power for your laptop?

Cheaper? Only because of the war on drugs

[corebreech]

Let us grow hemp and use it to make methanol. Then methanol will be cheaper.

How about.....

[Chris_Stankowitz]

"Such batteries promise to be cheaper, safer and less toxic than previously demonstrated methanol based fuel cells."

Ok, great, now how about Last Longer? Especially Laptop batteries, I can't seem to keep a charge on any of them. They all seem to degarde rather fast.

Re:use hydrogen fuel cells

[Anonymous Coward]

Nuclear Power Plants - a very clean source of electricity.

As long as "clean" is redefined as "generates huge quantities of enormously dangerouas waste that we have no way to get rid of", you're right.

Also, nuclear power is incredibly expensive.

Other than that, good idea.

A possible end to crop subsidies?

[Bonker]

Man, it would be really great if you could walk into a grocerie store and buy 'Ethanol Packets' next to the Duracells, Energizers, and Ray-o-Vacs.

No, not to drink, you lushes. It would mean that there would be a new demand for vegetable crops, Corn in particular. While the DoA is one of the most corrupt branches of our government, one can't help but think that a new demand for corn in the form of a non-perishable liquid would cut the amount of money currently being used for subsidies.

An ethanol economy is not quite as desirable as a hyrdrogen economy, but it can still be very good.

Re:A possible end to crop subsidies?

[Bonker]

You can always replant a vegetable. Let's see you replant oil reservers.

Even if there's a bio-engineered virus that targets your specific species of corn, you can always switch to a different variety or even a different vegetable. Having a diverse plant population would not only make diseases or natural disasters less effective, it would also limit the effectiveness of terrorism.

Drink your batteries, get the shits...

[iiioxx]

All non-regulated (as in BATF) ethanol is required by law to be denatured. There are two types of denaturing: complete and specical. Complete adds 5% methanol, rendering the mixture toxic for human consumption. Special denaturing adds a non-toxic additive to render the alcohol undrinkable. This is often done by adding phenopthalein, which (aside from being a pH indicator) is a powerful laxative. Drinking it will cause "severe gastrointestinal distress". Most consumer applications (like rubbing alcohol) use special denaturing (so they don't kill stupid alcoholics).

Just FYI for anyone thinking about using your laptop as a wetbar.

DoA? How about the BATF?

[Ungrounded Lightning]

While the DoA is one of the most corrupt branches of our government [...]

Department of Agriculture? That's nothing.

Do you REALLY want your laptop regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF)? (Maybe with a little assistance from the FBI and the National Guard?)

I can see it now: Some kids are holding a LAN party. A sniper takes out the dogs in the yard. Then cattle cars full of ninja-suited jackbooted thugs pull up, blocking the view of the front door from the tipped-off press held at bay a mile away. They knock on the door. The homeowner answers, and is shot first in the arm and then the chest. The house is stormed, the cats stomped to death. Helicopters appear and fire into the upper floors, while a group brakes into the second-floor window and the last one throws a grenade in after them. The people not shot are herded into the upper floors or the underground basement sideroom by teargas. Then tanks crush the passages to the sideroom, take out the stairs to the second floor, smash much of the building to tinder, and open ventilation holes to the wind. Once the solvent has evaporated from the injected teargas (so the remaining dust is thoroughly flammible) a few pyrotechnic-based teargas grenades light it off. The teargas dust lights off the tinder, setting the building on fire, while producing Hydrogen Cyanide gas. And anyone not already dead is poisoned the first time they take a breath of smoke while trying to make it out (or just sitting trapped in the basement room).

And at the press conference they tell us that they really HAD to go after these low lifes, because, even though they had a license to make high-capacity laptop batteries they were suspected of not paying a $200 tax on one of 'em. And they were teaching their kids to download MP3s.