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

The major problem of the next year may well be...

[ketamine-bp]

Overheating.

We all know that the enzymes hate heat - that is, they get denatured by heat. From what I feel on my lap when a laptop was put on it, I really wonder how do something as sensitive as enzyme withstand the working temperature of a computer (I guess that'll be one of the application, from the article).

When you shrink that (from the article, they are going to.), the problem goes even more wild... ;-)

Biotech Ethanol

[airuck]

Novozymes Biotech in Davis, California is selectively breeding better enzymes for converting the cellulose in corn by-products to fermentable sugars. Who knows, maybe some day Kansas will power your calls.

Bio-engineering

[panurge]

It makes sense. The development of life actually demonstrates that carbon-chain based molecules are a good place to start when you want to do something. Until the twentieth century the main source of applied energy was animal movement, an incredibly complicated way of obtaining movement from the breakdown of sugars, starch and fat. Even now, most cars don't last as long as a horse, so clearly the longevity problem is soluble. It's just that we have only very recently been able to start using that kind of technology deliberately instead of finding it by accident.

Now excuse me, my fuel cell needs a shot and then it wants to go to the bathroom.

Cost

[Stripsurge]

Yes, ethanol is cheap to make but expensive to buy. There'd have to some law changes to avoid having to pay the taxes associated with buying consumable alcohol. Using ethanol in the chem lab is pricy.

social implications

[frovingslosh]

So here is the next question: a denaturing agent destroys the fuel cell. The (US) tax on non-denatured methanol is so excessive that it prohibits the use of these fuel cells in laptops, not to mention much better uses of the fuel cells, like clean running cars (where even with a road tax the tax would be much lower). So the question is, do we change the law to support this new clean technology, or do we keep an aribratary tax that is both about raising excessive revenue as well as about telling people how to live their lives? And if we get rid of a tax on alcohol to permit these fuel cells, what other rediculous law can replace it to show people that big brother can run their lives better than they can? And can I get laptop methanol without paying a road tax on it? And do methanol and programming really mix?