Japan: Fuel-Cell Nation

Business Weekly ^ | 10.06.03 | Irene M. Kunii

[Dr. Marten]

When it comes to gadgets, the Japanese are a tough lot to please. So when NEC Corp.'s stand at the WPC Expo computer trade show in mid-September started to draw crowds like Tokyo's Shinjuku Station at rush hour, it was clear that something extraordinary was on display.

[txzman]

Just wait until they hit the US, and some elderly lady dumps Methanol on her keyboard and lap, then sues the company for millions. End of technology.

[Support Free Republic]

Aww man! Enough of the fundraiser posts!!!

Only YOU can make fundraiser posts go away. Please contribute!

[blackdog]

The Amish and Menonite "off grid" folks have been using refrigerators powered by methanol, ethanol, kerosene, or isopropynol for about eighty years now. A single quart of fuel lasts about six weeks. So for about 30 cents they run an appliance that costs us "on grid" folks about $20 to run.

[Little Pig]

I want to know how the airlines are going to react to methanol-powered laptops being brought on-board aircraft.


"No, really, this jug of flammable liquid is a refill for my computer, honest!"

[Atlas Sneezed]

This is big-time tech for the future. Essentially, stored power will be almost irrelevant for portable electronics.

Of course, the tech will need to be made as safe as an aeresol can, but that shouldn't be too hard.

I have heard about this for several years. It also means that devices can use more power, providing other benefits such as longer range cell-phones that work where service is spotty, brighter flashlights, and innumerable applicaitons that haven't been thought of yet.

[blackdog]

In the 80's I used to work for a copier company that used a hydrocarbon dispersant to put current charged toner particles into suspension and then transfer them to the photoconductor and paper with the use of charge fields. The hydrocarbon would just run back into the tank due to it's being non-ionic, leaving just the ink behind.

I used to be in research and had to fly around the country with jugs of the stuff which was essentially odorless kerosene. Nobody ever cared. One jug and a match could end any flight much like TWA 800.

Flash forward to today......I am hired to ferry an old unairworthy Aztec from Washington State to Illinois. I pack up two batteries, a propellor governor, a hand held radio, an alternator, some hydraulic fluids and seals along with a tool kit and try to board a one way commercial flight from Madison. I had everything but the batteries as checked baggage. Forget it!..........Even though the pilot knows the drill, the former Dairy Queen cashier TSA employee bans me from flying. A one way ticket....Tools.....Fluids......An FAA issued ferry permit.....A commercial pilot's license.......all criteria flagging me!

I cashed in the ticket and caught a Federal Reserve jet jump seat for free.

I don't think you can take a fully fueled Zippo lighter on board these days. I've got mixed feelings about it.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Sounds like the work of the devil to me. I didn't know those folks were devil-worshippers.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Well, I guess Arnoold is onto a trend!

I look for this soon in Kalifornia!

OFFICIAL BUMP(TOPIC)LIST

[TBall]

"No, really, this jug of flammable liquid is a refill for my computer, honest!" That is a great point. I know Millennium Cell is working with computer makers. Millennium Cell has found a way to safely store hydrogen in a chemical form. There are some pretty cool technologies being developed.

[blam]

Thanks for the ping. Welcome back Ernest.

[Carry_Okie]

Note: Not cars (Arnold), but small, high power applications. Very smart. They'll move onto the tougher applications as they develop produciton capacity and field experience.

I'm looking forward to stationary power applications, fuel cells by night and solar by day running a DC system in the home. The brushless motors are already here.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

New Prius coming to U.S.
Toyota’s revamped gas-electric hybrid, the 2004 Prius, goes on sale in the United States on Oct. 17. Also airs during the second hour of Closing Bell, which begins at 4 p.m. ET.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The above from CNBC's web site!

[longtermmemmory]

Imagine the horror of homes that have their own independed power systems. You can now buy a gas backup electrical system at home depot. How much time before its a primary system?

[July 4th]

There's some very cool laptop technology out right now. The Hitachi Flora laptop has no fan. It's water cooled, with a pump that circulates water over the processor to a thin visible tank on the back of the screen.

[Carry_Okie]

Correct move. Hybrid cars make a nice technical bridge between piston powered motors and fuel cells (should they turn out to be a good idea, I'm not convinced).

Toyota is now where American car companies should have been in 1990. Turbine powered hybrids are also a real possibility.

[rogers21774]

A single quart of fuel powers a refrigerator for six weeks? I find that hard to believe.

[Carry_Okie]

Imagine the horror of homes that have their own independed power systems. You can now buy a gas backup electrical system at home depot. How much time before its a primary system?

If landowners in remote locations had to pay to clear the power line corridors and for the cost of transmission line losses or if the power companies really understood and funded the liability for fire it would happen faster. However, if rural areas could generate their own power from biomass that might take them off the grid entirely. I'm looking forward to the option of solar by day and propane powered fuel cells by night. We're still 5-10 years away from that, and DC powered appliances may be necessary to make it truly efficient (inverters are still fairly lossy and expensive). Such applications make more sense to me than fuel cell cars do.