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Mac Forum / Country Specific / UK Mac Group / May 2008Fuel cells soon?
Fuel cells are in the frame to solve the mobile device battery issue. At some stage... Sony have unveiled what they are claiming is a commercial ready design of a methanol powered unit. See: <http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080502/151303/> Ian  SignatureIan Robinson, Belfast, UK <http://www.canicula.com/wp/> > Fuel cells are in the frame to solve the mobile device battery issue. At some > stage... [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Ian Oh Dear another 10p on the price of bread from Asda... SignatureMike Peace and Happiness is a State of Mind.... > <http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080502/151303/> methanol, METHANOL- they should use ethanol. Could double up as a hip flask then > > <http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080502/151303/> > > methanol, METHANOL- they should use ethanol. > Could double up as a hip flask then Not that the fact that it is methanol not ethanol would stop some of my neighbours at the back of Kentish Town ... Signatureflavio matani guitar tuition homepage.mac.com/flavio_matani/guitar/ www.livejournal.com/users/flavius_m/ > Fuel cells are in the frame to solve the mobile device battery issue. At some > stage... Well, in January 2004 someone posted to uk.transport claiming that fuel cells would be available in laptops in 2004 and that "a thousand or so" had already been shipped in January 2004. I expressed scepticism because one of my clients is a leader in the design and use of fuel cells and they didn't have any anticipation of fuel cells being widely available in 2004, or indeed in the forseeable future. Here we are in 2008, still no signs of fuel cells other than as vapourware and the fundamental issues still remain. I doubt that you're oing to get one of these onto an aeroplane and anyone who thought that LiIon batteries get hot is going to be amused by fuel cells. And that article about Sony uses the word "prototype" and the phrase "intends to commercialise." > And that article about Sony uses the word "prototype" and the phrase > "intends to commercialise." But it also includes: "We have been aiming to mount (a fuel-cell system) in mobile devices and finally reached a level of commercial design," an engineer for Sony Material Laboratory said. Ian SignatureIan Robinson, Belfast, UK <http://www.canicula.com/wp/> > > And that article about Sony uses the word "prototype" and the phrase > > "intends to commercialise." [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > finally reached a level of commercial design," an engineer for Sony Material > Laboratory said. Yes, that doesn't meant that they have a comercial product, far from it. It simply means that they have a prototype. A concept car is "a level of commercial design" and it's a long way from the thing you buy in a showroom. > Fuel cells are in the frame to solve the mobile device battery > issue. At some stage... [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > <http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080502/151303/> ISTR Toshiba demonstrated a meths-driven fuel cell battery a year or two back. IIRC an early version but it worked. The UKian firm of Porvair is involved in fuel cells, through a US subsidiary making special permeable membranes, and have announced good progress. Those would be the bigger kind. SignatureAndrew Stephenson > Fuel cells are in the frame to solve the mobile device battery issue. At some > stage... They've been working on it for years. I don't see how fuel cells can help with applications that need high peak power - without something else to provide peaks. Li ion batteries or their replacement will still have a place. No way is anyone going to make a `0-60mph in 5s' car running on a fuel cell alone, put it like that. > Sony have unveiled what they are claiming is a commercial ready design of a > methanol powered unit. See: > > <http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080502/151303/> Great - just what we need to reduce CO_2 emissons, innit? Methanol: CH_3. And it's a fossil fuel. Rowland. SignatureRemove the animal for email address: rowland.mcdonnell@dog.physics.org Sorry - the spam got to me http://www.mag-uk.org http://www.bmf.co.uk UK biker? Join MAG and the BMF and stop the Eurocrats banning biking >> Sony have unveiled what they are claiming is a commercial ready design of a >> methanol powered unit. See: [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Methanol: CH_3. And it's a fossil fuel. CH3 is methane, a fossil fuel, methanol is CH2OH but it looks like it's usually made from methane. However, you can get methane from sources other than natural gas, I found this article when looking into this: http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=16629&pg=2 Stewart >> Methanol: CH_3. And it's a fossil fuel. >CH3 is methane CH4 is methane. CH3 is a methyl group, which doesn't usually exist on its own. >methanol is CH2OH Methanol is CH3OH, a methyl group attached to a hydroxyl (OH) group. So it's methane with one of its hydrogens replace with OH. -- Richard :wq >>> Methanol: CH_3. And it's a fossil fuel. > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Methanol is CH3OH, a methyl group attached to a hydroxyl (OH) group. > So it's methane with one of its hydrogens replace with OH. You're right of course I lost an H somewhere along the way. I'll blame Rowland for having the CH3 there in the first place... Stewart > >>> Methanol: CH_3. And it's a fossil fuel. > > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > You're right of course I lost an H somewhere along the way. I'll blame > Rowland for having the CH3 there in the first place... It's not my fault, cosmic rays caused a glitch in my brain so I read the word wrongly. Rowland. SignatureRemove the animal for email address: rowland.mcdonnell@dog.physics.org Sorry - the spam got to me http://www.mag-uk.org http://www.bmf.co.uk UK biker? Join MAG and the BMF and stop the Eurocrats banning biking > >> Sony have unveiled what they are claiming is a commercial ready design of a > >> methanol powered unit. See: [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > CH3 is methane, a fossil fuel, methanol is CH2OH § Bugger - quite right, brain fart. Argh. Well, I only did O level chemistry... >but it looks like it's > usually made from methane. Argh. Fermentation's what one ought to be using, innit? Too expensive, I expect - carbon charging's needed to deal with that. > However, you can get methane from sources > other than natural gas, I found this article when looking into this: > > http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=16629&pg=2 Oooh! Ta. Rowland. SignatureRemove the animal for email address: rowland.mcdonnell@dog.physics.org Sorry - the spam got to me http://www.mag-uk.org http://www.bmf.co.uk UK biker? Join MAG and the BMF and stop the Eurocrats banning biking [snipall] Re: your X-Face. 'ang on a bit - are you *really* the re-incarnation of Charles Fort? Rowland. > [snipall] > > Re: your X-Face. > > 'ang on a bit - are you *really* the re-incarnation of Charles Fort? I might be, how could I tell? "I have taken the stand that nobody can be always wrong, but it does seem to me that I have approximated so highly that I am nothing short of a negative genius." Stewart > > [snipall] > > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > I might be, how could I tell? <big grin> > "I have taken the stand that nobody can be always wrong, but it does > seem to me that I have approximated so highly that I am nothing short of > a negative genius." <bigger grin> Rowland. SignatureRemove the animal for email address: rowland.mcdonnell@dog.physics.org Sorry - the spam got to me http://www.mag-uk.org http://www.bmf.co.uk UK biker? Join MAG and the BMF and stop the Eurocrats banning biking > No way is anyone going to make a `0-60mph in 5s' car running on a fuel cell > alone, put it like that. I fail to see why not. |
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