Methanol has been a fixture in fuel cell development for some time now. It seems like storing hydrogen itself is going to offer the best efficiency and "energy density" - the number of watts per kilogram of cell - the key figure for most applications.
The biggest problem with how fuel cells are promoted is that they are said to be a way to "burn" fuels like hydrogen or methanol. While that's true, that's not at ALL what makes fuel cells interesting! The cool part is that you can use them as regenerative cells - like a regular battery - to STORE energy very efficiently.
In other words, you can keep re-using the same hydrogen over and over again, like a lead acid or NiCad or NiMH cell does, but without extraneous processes that eat up efficiency.
The future is in recharging fuel cells, not in dumping new, different toxic substances into your car.
Remember, a few drops of methanol will blind you. Not much more will kill you. No thanks.
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Methanol has been a fixture in fuel cell development for some time now. It seems like storing hydrogen itself is going to offer the best efficiency and "energy density" - the number of watts per kilogram of cell - the key figure for most applications. The biggest problem with how fuel cells are promoted is that they are said to be a way to "burn" fuels like hydrogen or methanol. While that's true, that's not at ALL what makes fuel cells interesting! The cool part is that you can use them as regenerative cells - like a regular battery - to STORE energy very efficiently. In other words, you can keep re-using the same hydrogen over and over again, like a lead acid or NiCad or NiMH cell does, but without extraneous processes that eat up efficiency. The future is in recharging fuel cells, not in dumping new, different toxic substances into your car. Remember, a few drops of methanol will blind you. Not much more will kill you. No thanks.