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Fuel Cells Will Run Laptops, Phones

Motorola's technology promises ten times the life of traditional batteries.

By Jack McCarthy, IDG News   

Motorola is developing a tiny fuel cell that could power notebook PCs, cell phones, and other electronic devices and last ten times as long as traditional batteries, the company said on Wednesday.

The cell technology, which company officials say is three to five years away from commercial availability, is being codeveloped by Motorola Labs and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The cells, now in prototype stage, measure just one inch square and are less than one-tenth of an inch thick. They use liquid methanol (wood alcohol), which is combined with oxygen to produce electricity.

Motorola has developed circuitry to convert the low voltage of a fuel cell to the higher voltage needed to power electronic devices, the company said.

Developers envision that the cells would be able to power a cell phone for more than a month. In addition, the cells would be replaced by simple cartridges, eliminating the need for battery chargers.

"Business people don't like to carry around rechargers," Scott Wyman, a Motorola spokesperson, said in a telephone interview. "With the fuel cell, you would carry small cartridges like ink-pen cartridges that can be easily installed [in the device]."

The cells would also weigh far less than conventional batteries, allowing them to work with electronic devices that increasingly need more and longer-lasting power, Wyman said.

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