most popular: Sex in Small Cars?


most popular:
Killer Smog Clouds


th comments
stevejust said: "@Anonymous: I wish I could lease my laptop batteries. My 2.5 year old laptop battery doesn't last as long as it used to anymore... and a $120 bat..." [read]

said: "this kind of jewelry has been ugly for 30 years..." [read]

garrygolden said: "We have been watching BYD's evolution for some time now... your post makes many excellent points re: the opportunities and real world chall..." [read]

Robin from Green Energy Efficient Homes said: "One reason Canada's performance is so pathetic is the oil tar sands, which have grown monstrously in the past ten years because of increasing deman..." [read]

Chantel said: "Great suggestions. I like "The Ethics of What We Eat" by Peter Singer for this list as well...." [read]

Fuel Cell Powered MP3 Player from Toshiba

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.19.05
Science & Technology (electronics)

fuelcell.jpgSuck on this, Steve Jobs! what could be cooler than an MP3 player that runs 35 hours on a 3.5 millilitre shot of methanol. Now if they get it running on ethanol you could really party!

Fuel cells usually run on 30% concentrations of methanol but Toshiba developed the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) to run on pure methanol to take up less space. ::Toshiba via ::PSFK read also ::Treehugger

Comments (7)

Very cool, but don't get your wallet out yet - Toshiba's been workin' on this for about ten years. I remember around '98 they promised fuelcell-powered laptops by 2000.

jump to top Carl [TypeKey Profile Page] says:

Sounds a little messy...

And, not sure if this is a silly question, but would that device and/or its fuel re-fill containers be allowed on air planes or trains?

My Apple widget dictionary describes methanol as "a toxic, colorless, volatile flammable liquid alcohol..."

jump to top Scott says:

A few drops of methanol spilled on your skin will cause blindness, too. No fun. A fatal dose is 100-125 mL.

jump to top Anonymous says:

I wonder if it will run on HEET fuel conditioner. It's 99% pure methanol. Any contact with methanol liquid or vapors can result in a slow painful death.
Low power, long running devices like phones, mp3 players, GPS devices, etc are good applications for methanol fuel cells.

jump to top butane_bob says:

I'm waiting for the urine powered mp3 player.

jump to top Conor says:

"A few drops of methanol spilled on your skin will cause blindness, too. No fun."

This is absolute rubbish!

jump to top Anonymous says:

Here's an MSDS for Methanol.


http://avogadro.chem.iastate.edu/MSDS/methanol.htm


See sections 3 and 11.

I'm not sure why this is progress...

jump to top lonepine says:
th ads
th top picks
th ads