Alcohol-powered laptops ahead

BBC News ^ | 15 March, 2003 | Mark Ward

[Cyber Liberty]

Excellent news, except that I don't cotton to the idea of having to compete with a machine for my libations.

[MississippiMan]

Ted Kennedy can get a intravenous power cord to keep it on.

Please don't make me spit Coke all over my computer screen again. ;-)

MM

[LurkedLongEnough]

Ted Kennedy can get a intravenous power cord to keep it on.

-LOL

[templar]

No one (almost) seems to recognize the difference between Methanol and Ethanol.

To state it simply:
Drink ethanol in any quantity and you get drunk and have a hangover
Drink Methanol in any quantity and you die and have a funeral.

[SauronOfMordor]

Methanol (wood alcohol) is chemicly different from ethanol (grain alcohol). You cannot safely drink methanol.

On the upside, methanol can be produced from coal, so by building a bunch of nukes for our basic power needs, and making our cars run on methanol, we can tell OPEC to kiss off

[TheMightyQuinn]

"When methanol is broken down it generates carbon dioxide and water."

Um, what happens to the CO2? If CO2 is created, how is this "green energy"? I thought that CO2 was supposed to be the bad guy?

[ladysusan]

Interesting idea. Just recently got into a brawl elsewhere regarding hydrogen fuel cells for cars (...not just water welders!!) Did some research, found the following fascinating usenet posts from a brilliant scientist ( a chemist) regarding mass consumption of energy via hydrogen fuel cells. Not really on topic, sort of a tangent really, but very informative reading nevertheless for those interested in the problem(s). Presented for your consideration:
Here. And here. And here. And here.

Yo, y'all.
LS

[demosthenes the elder]

"HMBAWT" alert

[BushMeister]

This reminds me of my Dad. When we would pile into our kayaks and canoes on a lake, he would periodically ask my Mom for another "fuel cell", meaning another beer to keep him paddling!

[Movemout]

I think they will be adding a "Straw Portal Connector" if this comes to pass. A funnel and a bottle of Jim Beam will keep the hardware and the wetware running indefinitely.

[MainFrame65]

Interesting.

[Junior]

Gives a new meaning to "fully loaded."

[Colinsky]

Fuel cells which use chemistry to generate electrical power by breaking down substances such as hydrogen are already being touted as a green power source for the future, especially for cars and other light vehicles."

Gee, I wonder what the hydrogen breaks down into?

[Jhoffa_]

20 Watts eh? Pretty impressive for 50cc's of alcohol.

Also completely useless, as I bet they won't allow it on a plane.

[Jhoffa_]

Um, what happens to the CO2? If CO2 is created, how is this "green energy"? I thought that CO2 was supposed to be the bad guy?

Shhhh! Don't bring logic into this now.. Just applaud the new "green" power and be thankful it doesn't burn evil petrol for power. As that's a hate crime against mother earth.

[Kenny Bunk]

OK, send over a case of the alcohol cartridges. And while you're at it ....

'splain to me why all these new multi-hundred thousand euro (or dollar) supercars look like old Barracudas, or inexplicably like Datsun 2-doors. Of course, cup-holder technology has advanced remarkably since the '60s,and thanks to Fuel Injection and computers, the cars run very, very clean, even if they are un-diagnosable if problems develop, (talk to a BMW owner)

[Kenny Bunk]

OK, send over a case of the alcohol cartridges. And while you're at it ....

'splain to me why all these new multi-hundred thousand euro (or dollar) supercars look like old Barracudas, or inexplicably like Datsun 2-doors. Of course, cup-holder technology has advanced remarkably since the '60s,and thanks to Fuel Injection and computers, the cars run very, very clean, even if they are un-diagnosable if problems develop, (talk to a BMW owner)

[Revolting cat!]

Sheesh, what a waste of a good drink!

[Jhoffa_]

PS: With that kind of output, this has amateur robotics applications.

No more batteries, just pour in some methane and go... You don't need a house with an outlet, you don't need a cigarette lighter jack or a generator. Little jug of methane and you're all set.

This is going to be cool when they start showing up used on EBAY or in the digikey catalog.

[steveegg]

It's all a comspiracy to shut us down. They force us to buy these alcoholic laptops, then ban them because of the CO² content. </sarcasm?>