[null and void]

Counting coup on this one, I did a tiny little bit of consulting on this...

[TommyDale]

Butane? Alcohol? I can envision travel through airports as total nightmares.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

and the by-products are water vapor and CO2

So a Laptop is gonna leave a wet spot?

[alloysteel]

Probably still a few years away, but this sort of device could be used to power some micro- and nano- devices. A huge number of industrial and medical applications spring to mind immediately.

We ain’t near done reinventing the wheel yet, folks. It may not be perpetual motion, but a lot of work output for minimal input sounds closer and closer.

Do it on butane, hmm?

And you thought that was just for fireplace lighters.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Unless it comes to butane (or methanol, or even hydrogen) being pumped to people's houses, this use of fuel cells to replace rechargeable batteries doesn't make all that much sense. If you're going on a trip to a place without electricity, or on a long flight, then a fuel cell could come in handy. Otherwise, who would rather go to the store and buy a new fuel cell (or have it refilled) when it runs out? Suppose that you could buy a big tank of butane, but it seems much easier to just plug a cord into an electric outlet.

[Wonder Warthog]

"PEM cells have been in use since the 1960s and operate at acceptably low temperatures (350 degrees Fahrenheit). Yet they have drawbacks. They require pure hydrogen to produce electricity, and no one has figured out an economical way to store and transport that fuel."

Wrong. PEM fuel cells will run directly on methanol. Their efficiency is lower than for hydrogen, but the WILL produce electricity.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Cool.

Or not so cool. A hot idea? 8<)

(Waiting for hammer to drop on these guys because some nitwit in the fed government gets afraid of some “explosive/security/”they’ll make a bomb out of it”/it emits/burns/uses/looks like carbon hype ....

How come I never hear about these kind of start-ups until after they get their money? And start getting their profits?

[Leo Carpathian]

"Even if the battery manufacturers drop their price to zero, we'll kill 'em," he says. Lazarus has raised $40 million to date from Atlas Venture, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and other venture capital firms.

I will kep my dineros in my pocket or in real estate. Whata brilliant statement?!?

[wearearepublic]

bump

[sionnsar]

Current rechargers using flashlight batteries cost as much as $5 per charge

What? I need to see the numbers to believe this assertion.