An alternative to batteries by Claudia Sonea

In the computer era it is unnatural to not possess a computer. In fact the newest trend is to acquire a laptop. It is mobile and easy-to use, occupies a small space and gives access to the Internet in a much better variant than that offered by a mobile phone. It doesn’t matter if you are a business man or a teenager; the laptop is useful in all kind of activities. However, as owner of such a device I must confess that the battery life span is rather unsatisfying and I would definitely enjoy one that doesn’t end in a maximum of two hours.
Stop worrying, our troubles will soon be over. At least that is what PolyFuel promises- a laptop powered by a portable liquid fuel. This company is creating fuel cell membranes and on Wednesday announced that a prototype laptop will be launched on the market soon. It is a Lenovo T40 ThinkPadthat that uses methanol cartridges and a fuel cell as a power source. The methanol fuel cell converts methanol (wood) in electricity to power the laptop and only one cartridge can make it work for 10 hours. Having the size of a deck of cards, the cell can be replaced without having to turn off the laptop. NEC and Sanyo are customers of this company, so we may trust it to not deceive us.
The methanol fuel cell have been in the attention of a number of consumer electronics makers because the cartridges are portable and can provide longer usage of the laptop. Moreover, MTI MicroFuel Cells, a direct methanol fuel cell company, took everyone by surprise with its Mobion fuel cell saying that it had lasted 2,700 continuous hours. Until now no product using that type of power was commercialized, but in the next two or three years anything is possible.



related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/cnet/20080717/tc_cnet/8301111283999261454;_ylt=AvHY7P7F9AZtQN2wzp1uY7Ss0NUE

by Claudia Sonea for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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posted by Lucia Adamova