Thursday, October 5, 2006
NTT DoCoMo Shows Off Fuel Cell
Posted by Darius Wey in "NEWS" @ 09:00 AM
"NTT DoCoMo is showing at this week's Ceatec show in Japan a prototype fuel cell that it's developing with a Japanese startup for use as a cell-phone recharger. The polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) uses hydrogen gas as a fuel to produce electricity and is a compact 24 millimeters square, 70mm long and weighs 45 grams. The fuel cell is under development by Aquafairy, a startup spun out of Nitto Denko to work on the technology. NTT DoCoMo recently acquired a 36.5 percent stake in the company for an undisclosed sum. It can deliver enough power to recharge a cell phone three times before requiring a hydrogen refill."
Our gadget market is progressing faster than our batteries can keep up with, and that's a problem. It's about time manufacturers started looking at newer forms of juice that keep our devices running for longer and recharging faster. Enter NTT DoCoMo and its prototype fuel cell. It looks neat, but there are two issues here: how easily can one acquire a hydrogen refill, and is it safe (Hindenburg, anyone)? We've seen researchers test blood, urine, biological waste, and now good ol' flammable hydrogen. What next?
Our gadget market is progressing faster than our batteries can keep up with, and that's a problem. It's about time manufacturers started looking at newer forms of juice that keep our devices running for longer and recharging faster. Enter NTT DoCoMo and its prototype fuel cell. It looks neat, but there are two issues here: how easily can one acquire a hydrogen refill, and is it safe (Hindenburg, anyone)? We've seen researchers test blood, urine, biological waste, and now good ol' flammable hydrogen. What next?
