Microbes Pass Valuable Gas

inimicus writes "Wired reports: 'With a reliable source of hydrogen, fuel cells can produce energy with water as the only byproduct.' The good news is that there's a functional prototype (measuring 0.7 square centimeters and less than 1 millimeter thick) that produces 1 microwatt of power -- approximately enough to power a digital wristwatch. Personally, I'm intrigued by the concept of powering my laptop with sugar-water..."

Comments

Re:Hydrogen balooney

[barakn]

Average hair dryer takes about 2kW, so does ironing your shirt or vacuum your room.

And I suppose you iron your shirt 24 hours a day. I just calculated a thirteen month average of my home's electrical usage (data straight from the power bill), and it comes out to 0.765 kW. The two of us use a 25 year old refrigerator, an electric hot water heater, electric stove, '80s vintage dishwasher, clothes washer and dryer, and limited electric baseboard heating and a space heater during the winter. Oh, yeah, and the computer, tv, stereo.....and lights. And a 24/7 fan to eliminate radon. And the iron and vacuum

I *lived* in place which had 20Amp circuit brakers (which gives 20kW at 120V), and the circuit brakers were out all the time.

Your electrical system's inability to handle peak usage says nothing about average usage.