Panasonic talks up 2012's hottest fuel cell tech

Alas, here we are, 2008 drawing quickly to a close, and yet we still live in a world where the only viable portable fuel cell system is available exclusively to the US Army (unless you can make due with one lowly watt). Panasonic says we have another four years to wait, planning for a 2012 releasing of device powerful enough to run a notebook yet small enough to fit inside a battery compartment. The company estimates up to 5 hours of power could be had from 50cc of "highly concentrated" methanol, and of course you'd always be just a squirt away from a full charge -- the same sort of promises we've heard again and again about this tech. Four years may seem like a long way off, but it's surely more realistic than the release dates we've seen on some earlier prototypes.

Update: A few 200cc, 20-hour prototypes displayed after the break.

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[j_g_puff @ Oct 20th 2008 3:38AM]

I'm not sure how happy i'd be about having ANY quantity of methanol that close to my crotch.

[Plothole @ Oct 20th 2008 3:45AM]

But you're fine with having a potent alkali like Lithium near it?

[j_g_puff @ Oct 20th 2008 4:35AM]

That's a logical fallacy, and well you know it!

[erwin @ Oct 20th 2008 4:02AM]

...and if i drop my laptop on the floor? am i gonna see a pretty explosion?

[Patriks7 @ Oct 20th 2008 4:19AM]

Well following the numbers on here, a 1680cc would last us a whole week.. how awesome would that be?

[Dan Easton @ Oct 20th 2008 4:21AM]

"A device powerful enough to run a notebookup to 5 hours yet small enough to fit inside a battery compartment."

So that would be a battery, then.

[Prokanda @ Oct 20th 2008 4:45AM]

panny isn't the same company it once was.. my family had a microwave from them for 15 years.. then the new panny replacement lasted less than six months. as did the panny vcr, camcorder, portable cd player, and cordless phones. (most of these were a few years ago, we're not out of touch with new tech >.< )

so, I certainly wouldn't trust them with tech like this.

[Andy Polaine @ Oct 20th 2008 4:58AM]

You mean "make do" right? No make "due".

[j_g_puff @ Oct 20th 2008 5:08AM]

He probably meant 'make dew'.

[Spawn Xe @ Oct 20th 2008 7:43AM]

too bad they dont run on ethanol... be a neat way of smuggling booze into a meeting! (should you be superhuman enough to survive a swig of it)

[david @ Oct 20th 2008 12:26PM]

5 hrs..doesn't sound like that big of an improvement to me. You can already get 5hrs on a single charge with some batteries.

[Tim @ Oct 20th 2008 12:43PM]

Imagine dealing with the exhaust, while sitting on a plane full personal tech. running on methanol-burning power devices.

[Plothole @ Oct 20th 2008 3:28PM]

The only "exhaust" from a methanol fuel cell is carbon dioxide and water.

[TimeZone4 @ Oct 20th 2008 4:18PM]

Yeah, like you would actually be able to get on the plane with your methanol powered notebook.