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Pastimes : The New Qualcomm - write what you like thread. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Biddle who wrote (5620)	1/7/2003 5:39:49 PM
From: Maurice Winn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12235

John, thanks for that. Methanol fuel cells for cyberputers seem to be taking a heck of a long time to be made. Maybe there's something difficult about it. It should be easy enough, just get one of those spaceship ones and put it in a transmogrifying box for a few hours. Motorola's prototype is hefty. motorola.com They say <...The key technical challenges of fuel cells are: To further miniaturize the entire fuel cell system to fit into today’s small portable electronic equipment To ensure a high efficiency in the conversion of methanol to electricity and a very long operating life for the system To make them at a cost competitive with rechargeable batteries and/or chargers Research on this advanced methanol fuel cell technology is being partially funded by the U.S. Army Robert Morris Acquisition Center (RMAC), RTP Division. The program, under the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) Collaborative Technology Alliances (CTA) Program, is designed to stimulate scientific research....> Here's the crux: <The energy density of these new fuel cells is projected to be 3-5 times that of conventional rechargeable batteries. At the same time, they will be significantly lighter in weight.> Cost is going to be relatively irrelevant. Flat batteries are undesirable. People will pay a lot to avoid them. Cellphones don't use much power. Cyberputers do. Size matters, weight matters. Small and light is good in cyberputers. Methanol fuel cells should deliver that. Recharge time matters too. Squirting more methanol in will be cheap, fast and convenient. Mqurice