Researchers propose $30 portable fuel cell charger, we don't hold our breath
By Tim Stevens 
posted September 30th 2009 9:29AM
posted September 30th 2009 9:29AM
If you believed all the fuel cell talk that's been bandied about in press releases over the years you'd have thrown away your plug-in chargers by now and started squirting alcohol into all your gadgets. Many promises have been broken, so please take this news of a supposed $30 fuel cell charger for cellphones and other mobile devices with a suitably large chunk of salt -- or some sodium-free flavor enhancer if your doctor has imposed such dietary restrictions. Scientists at the Industrial Technology Research Institute in Taiwan have created a prototype charger that runs on small tubes containing solid-state hydrogen, "plasticized" so that it is only released when mixed with water. The canisters are said to sell for $.30 a pop, leaving one researcher to say: "They could be sold at 7-Eleven." We want to write a skeptical response analyzing the feasibility of to such pricing but instead got distracted researching information about Taiwanese convenience stores. Did you know there are 4,807 7-Eleven franchise locations around Taiwan? Amazing!
Really? Almost 5,000 7-elevens in Taiwan and not a single one in Houston???
7-11s used to be all over Houston. Of course that was back around 1980. Don't know why they retreated but I sure missed my Slurpee's ;(
In fact...Stop-n-go, Circle K, and practically every other major convenience store that has ever set up shop in Houston has now left the Houston market.
Probably cuz its so damn humid down here!
While not in Taiwan, I noticed over in Hong Kong there were at times two or three 7/11s per block at times........all pretty small and not all of them had slurpees http://bit.ly/240KzJ
While in Taiwan, there's 7-11s that are just caddy corner from each other and adjacent to one of the tons of competing convenience stores. None have slurpees =(
@Stacky:
I beg to differ. Here in Taipei just about all the 7-11s have slurpees.
BTW, there are three other convenient store chains in Taiwan, so we have more than 9000 of these 24/7 stores in an area about the size of my big toenail. Hurray for Taiwan!
Hydrogen at the solid state at room temperature and pressure? Something's lost in translation here...
ITRI recently developed a "NaBH4/cobalt based catalyst composite" which they're presenting in November. I suspect the polymer is a framework to hold the composite.
"The plastic solid-state hydrogen fuel is mainly composed of chemical hydrides (NaBH4). It is suitable for portable hydrogen energy application because of its high hydrogen storage capacity. The plastic solid-state hydrogen fuel is soft, can be shaped into different forms, and reacts with water to release hydrogen steady. The hydrogen as released connects to a fuel cell to generate electricity."
http://www.itri.org.tw/chi/tech-transfer/04.asp?RootNodeId=040&NodeId=041&id=3717
There is also a company in the US that is working on hydrogen fuel cell that is capable of storing enough hydrogen to give cars the same range as gasoline. It stores the hydrogen as a hydride similar to a NiMh battery.
$30 ?
My monthly electric bill is about $35.
$35/month??? Do you live in a yurt?
hydroelectric power plant ^_^
My monthly bill with programmed AC running, 47 inches of HD tv and a 1st Gen PS3 running most of the time (fridge is unplugged and open since nothing is stored in there.) is around $50 in the Summer and around $25-35 in the Winter.
Further,
None of those 7-elevens are affiliated with eh 7-elevens in the United States. Also, during floods in Taiwan, they are usually the only stores open in waist high water. They are SO much better over there!
Were you there for that special Taipei flooding in 2001? I remember bags of chips and "Shrimp crackers" floating out of the store into the running torrent down NanJing Rd. Funny how the 7-11 doors were already busted open and all the cigarettes and cash taken.. Probably just a good samaritan trying to help keep them dry.
$30.00 or $0.30? Please proofread!
the fuel might cost 0.3$ bu the device can be 30$ ? right? like car costs 10K USD but ...
I guess the charger is $30, each fuel cell canister is $0.30.
ah beaten lol.
Fail. I was cranky about Giz's proofreading so I jumped over here and wrongfully took it out on Engadget. I appologize.
7-11s used to be all over Houston. Of course that was back around 1980. Don't know why they retreated but I sure missed my Slurpee's ;(
In fact...Stop-n-go, Circle K, and practically every other major convenience store that has ever set up shop in Houston has now left the Houston market.
if this is coming out of Taiwan... the grain of salt we need to take is very small.
if this was anywhere near to being 'real' we'd have heard more about it already. fuel cells are going to revolutionise gadgets.
"analyzing the feasibility of to such pricing"
omg engadget what are you doing to my brain?!
If you read about the cell phones in Africa, and the lack of electrical lines to the many cell phone users, this solution is better than buying car batteries, or the other solutions needed to recharge phones. It may have little meaning to us, but for the 300 million cell phone users in Africa, it could offer a good solution.
I'm thinking about the many battery-powered clocks and other devices (cordless phones, remote controls, etc) I have around the house.
I'd really like it if I could just add a few drops of rubbing alcohol a week to them rather than constantly recharging batteries.
adding drops of anything to "recharge" on a weekly basis would drive me crazy. I'd rather recharge my batteries months at a time.
I would to. So I'll add a half-ounce of alcohol twice a year rather than a few drops a week.
Don't you have a stand for the cordless phone? And in my experience, batteries in remote controls last a couple of years. All the clocks I have are plugged in, but even if they aren't I don't see clocks needing battery changes too frequently. I don't see too much use for this except maybe as a powerpack for my laptop or maybe for the new smartphones that take up so much energy. But having to continually buy disposable packs (for this kind of hydrogen fuel cell) kind of sucks esp if they aren't small enough or integrated into the device. The DMFCs sound a lot better since you just need a liquid squirt bottle, though you still have to buy the liquid.
I have "stands" (chargers) for my cordless phones, but the batteries are holding their charges for shorter and shorter times - and aren't covered by the warranty, since they don't guarantee any particular performance for the batteries. If the battery dies after three minutes, that's fine with them. My clocks and remotes are also lasting shorter and shorter times, even with NiMH batteries (and a decent Monster charger, which I didn't pay Monster pricing on, by the way).
But the fuel needs to be generic, like standard-issue rubbing alcohol. or distilled water. IF the cartridges of polymer mentioned in this article are actually sold for 30¢ for 2AH equivalent or higher, then fine; they'll soon be considered generic themselves, so long as the polymer isn't confined to a proprietary canister.
I want to buy it by it for $1/pint or quart rather than 30¢/2oz, then pour it up myself to save money. Maybe set up a large generator and wire it into my house as a standby power source, then have a few gallons of the fuel handy. Maybe even set that up as the normal power source, if it's cost-effective enough, which it may not be. But I want the flexibility.
by far the best longer term option OC is the generic PEM-Electrolyser hydrogen directly from distilled water, forget all the other options that require extra processing and far more costs....
http://www.h-tec.com/html/web/weiche/index_en.asp
Plus the best part of 7-11s in Taiwan? You can buy alcohol, computer games and even a couple of computer peripherals any time of day.
Pay your bills there too.