Fuel-Cell Tech May Be Coming Soon

Reuters Email 09.02.03


Japanese companies are pushing ahead with prototypes of miniaturized fuel-cell technology that use methanol to create power, even though experts say limited-life batteries are here to stay for several more years.

Methanol, a type of alcohol, is flammable, but fuel cells typically use less than 24 percent of methanol in water, said John Goodman, president of the fuel cell division at Entegris, which makes fuel cell components.

"The issue isn't 'Are flammable liquids safe on an aircraft?' They already are allowed with liquor and perfume," said Goodman.

Fuel-cell-powered laptop prototypes have been developed by Toshiba and NEC, who plan to start selling them as full-fledged products next year. Casio, Sony and Hitachi and Samsung of Korea are also working on micro fuel-cell technology.

Goodman predicts that, in a matter of years, fuel cell-batteries no bigger than a cigarette lighter will run for 10 hours or more before being replaced.

"After about 10 hours of operation, you will pop out a fuel-cell cartridge about the size of a Bic lighter or inkjet cartridge" and put in a fresh one, he said.




"With the advent of wireless, we need to get people off the grid as far as the power, so you don't have to plug in," said Mike Rocke, a director at Intel Capital, the chipmaker's capital investment arm.



Experts believe that laptops will likely be the first mass market for fuel-cell technology. Shrinking the power packs enough to fit into cell phones will take longer to develop. For cars and power stations, there are huge infrastructure issues to resolve before fuel cells are widely used there.

"Laptops are moving to fuel cells because, currently, it is frustrating for someone to have to wait eight hours to recharge a battery or carry around heavy replacement batteries," said Bernadette Geyer, marketing director at the U.S. Fuel Cell Council in Washington, D.C.


"Notebook manufacturers want to add features to their notebooks that will require more power and they don't want to shorten battery life," said Barbara Heydorn, senior consultant of SRI Consulting Business Intelligence.


"There need to be regulations that allow a methanol cartridge to be transported in the same way that a lighter with butane fuel is transported onto airplanes," said Balcom, president and chief executive of PolyFuel, which makes membranes, or core components, for portable fuel cells.


Allied Business predicts there will be only a paltry 2,000 laptops with micro fuel cells shipped worldwide in 2004.

Four years later that could spiral upward to 1 million fuel-cell laptops and $150 million in revenue, growing to 120 million laptops and $1.2 billion by 2011, the firm predicts.


"It is still several years off for fuel cells being a practical solution for standard notebooks," Dell spokesman Jess Blackburn said, a view echoed by IBM as well.

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