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Hitachi Shows Off A Fuel-Cell PDA
prostoalex writes "Hitachi made a PDA, powered by a fuel cell. The device runs for 5 hours, and they plan to expand the battery power to 40 hours. It weighs 700 grams, which makes it heavier than most of the models out there. The commercial production will start next year, a picture is available from MobileMag." (This earlier mention of Hitachi's work talks about how such fuel cells could be used to charge or power other things, from cellphones to laptops.)
may we can finally get more usage out of PDA's for war driving instead of killing the battery so quickly
Looks more like a stereo! How is one supposed to carry it again? Stuck against a ear, pretending to listen to music?
http://efil.blogspot.com/
The prototype weighs about 700g, twice the weight of conventional PDAs
Whoa... barely luggable, surely not pocketable.
I think it's a bit too heavy for most people. I know a lot of people that don't use it enought durin gthe day to really worry about battery life. Usually they are back home and can recharge, if they remember.
However, I'm sure there are some people who would sacrifive weight and portability for the extra battery life. Campers, explorers, hikers, skiiers, etc... Anytime you slap a GPS unit on it and head off the beaten track, you will probably appreciate the extra battery life.
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Cool but how much does it save me over than using rechargeable Double-A batteries? I just hope the fuel cells aren't something like $400 for a $300 PDA.
I'm not sure I'd like to walk with methanol in my pocket.
People walk around with methanol lighters. Never really heard of anyone being so chicken that they can't even carry a lighter.
So a power source you have to go out of your house and actually buy everytime it dies is going to be preferrable to the recharge anywhere there's an outlet current batteries?
Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
Almost got blind when a 200 gallon container spilled? Damn that'd keep this pda running for so long. ;)
I'd assume you'd be able to buy small cannisters to refil the fuel cell, that would be quite safe and even if they did rupture and empty their contents into the air, would be unlikely to provide enough methanol to blind you. Assuming of course you're not in an cramped airtight box.
East Coast Brewers
But eventually one could envision the use of solar powered electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen and oxygen.
Of course it will have taken polutting energy to make the produce the solar cells as well as the PDA.
In the end the biggest pollution sources will be the heavy metals/nonbiodegradable materials in the PDA
I make my face look like this and concerned words come out.
you could say that this is actually more polluting than conventional energy sources
More than a NiCD, Li-ion, or NiMH battery? Those systems also require that you put energy into them, and they are extremely far away from being 100% efficient.
It should be obvious to the casual observer that plugging a device directly into the wall is more energy efficient than using a portable energy storage system with a device. There is simply no such thing as 100% efficiency in any energy storage products.
The big question is how much energy you can store in the smallest space with the smallest amount of nasty chemicals. Charging efficiency is only a small part of the picture - heck, I'm confident that driving your SUV for a mile uses more energy than all the batteries I have ever used in my entire life... and then some.
In addition, the chemicals involved in traditional "batteries" are known to be very toxic. If you want to talk about polutants, look at all the cell phone batteries that are thrown away year after year.
Energy efficiency isn't the only piece of the pie when it comes to polutants. Especially when you consider the toxicity of traditional batteries.
You have a point. But only a half baked point.
You read the article, you quote the article. But you misquote. Nowhere does it say hydrogen is 100% pollution free. And nowhere do they misspell "precent" Here is the real text:
"A fuel cell is a pollution-free and highly efficient power source and it is expected to be used for automobiles and in households, although its greater cost than that of traditional power sources limits its applications at present."
BTW, It IS possible (and it is already happening NOW) to produce clean hydrogen.
Already, Iceland, "harvests" hydrogen by using hot water springs. Also, hydrogen created from Solar energy, or really any clean energy source, is also truely clean.
Remember, hydrogen is no energy -source- per se. It is a handy energy -carrier-. So is oil. (And we misuse it as a source) We still need clean sources to -make- hydrogen.
But in USING oil ALONE lies enviromental consequences. Not so with hydrogen. It is the -usage- which is 100% clean. So the article claims "The fuelcell is clean" and the article is right.
"/Dread"
this fuel cell devie is cool, but still nowhere near as clean and renewable as human power/solar... and their first products needs to be a pocket power source instead of a laptop or PDA.
I was going to post: Sorry, false. Alcohol is 100% renewable (what do you think beer is made of, petroleum?).
But, for one (I must be new here), I checked the facts before posting. The article says that they are going to use methanol, which according to wikipedia is usually got from the methane ("the most economical and widely used feedstock for methanol production") in natural gas, which is "ultimately unsustainable".
I'm sure all this is cleaner than batteries, but not 100% clean & renewable.
It weighs more than a battery and, like ALL OTHER prototype fuel cells, only lasts a fraction of the time expected of it - less than a comparable battery. It is still uncertain whether this touted efficiency will come through further refinement, that's a total crap shoot.
Fuel cells currently run hotter than batteries, which sucks.
Also, every fuel cell design I've seen produces water vapor. Some of the cells capture and use it internally, but in case of malfunction it could really be disastrous. Especially with the heat problem - with a li-ion battery you might get a firecracker-equivalent explosion on malfunction, these things could become compressed steam bombs capable of fatal damage.
I'm all for improving battery designs. I can't wait until rechargeable batteries last twice as long and run twice as cool. But fuel cells are like taking a huge step backwards in the interests of potentially taking some steps forward at some unspecified time in the future.
I think it's a good thing that others, like Electrovaya, continue to invest in researching advancements for current battery technology as well.
Fuel cells won't make any corporations worry one bit. First of all, the typical corporation has "Covenants Not To Compete", so the only way they will displace existing technology is if the biggest corporate powers deem it to be in their best interests.
:-)
Uh huh. And I guess every government in the world is in on this conspiracy?
That being said, the cost of using these devices will undoubtedly be familiar to purchasing printer ink. 40 hours my seem like a long time, but that can be used up in less than 2 days.
When stationary it will be plugged in as usual. You only need the fuel cell on the move. For someone that commutes a couple of hours a day, that's around 3 weeks on one refill.
Will it leak? Will it explode? Can I take it on a plane? Will the exhaust (steam) burn you?
It won't leak unless it's manufactured badly (like a cigarette lighter). There's no reason it should explode. And yes you can take it on a plane. They can manufacturer laptops where the CPU you can fry an egg on won't burn you so I'm sure they can do the same for the fuel cell.
Of course you've go the whole chicken vs. egg hydrogen economy issue as well. Since hydrogen is derived from less clean energies, then it's already tainted. Nya-nya-nya-nya-nya-nya!
Not true. You CAN generate it from less clean energies if you desire, or from clean ones such as solar, wind, or even algae. Your choice.
I used to be waaaaaaaaay optimistic about the whole fuelcell revolution, but now that it's future has already been carefully laid out by corporations, it hardly thrills me as anything more than one more piece of technology that will somehow eventually be used against me or perhaps even you when you most depend upon it, and least expect it.
So now it's moved from science fiction into fact, it's no longer interesting to you? Well, your choice.
Sorry so long, and I know it's not very optimistic, but thanks for listening... Try to have a nice day.
Not in the slightest convinced by your arguments. I still think it's a fantastic technology and I'm looking forwards to it being rolled out asap in as many areas as possible.
Phillip.
Property for sale in Nice, France
Wouldn't it be great to have a fuel cell powered laptop, where all you have to do is pour in more methanol to get 40 hours' more runtime? Wouldn't it be great if this technology would trickle down to flashlight cells? No more noxious disposable batteries going into landfills, and no more pollution from the process of making them. Methanol is a byproduct of oil refining and other industrial processes. Using it in fuel cells would be practically pollution free, and eliminate other pollution from battery manufacture and disposal.
But wait!
This is not what's happening. In fact, you won't be able to top off your fuel cell with a bottle from the drugstore. What Toshiba, Hitachi, and others are planning, is to capitalize on the lucrative disposable battery/razorblade business model -- with disposable methanol cartridges, like the CO2 cartridges for seltzer water makers, bicycle tire inflators and BB guns. The cartridge concept for fuel cells was supposedly to get around airline regulations about open containers of flammable liquids, but the lucrative disposable battery/razorblade business model is the real reason.