# Toshiba Announces World’s First Direct Methanol Fuel Cell for Portable PCs! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 9, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toshiba-announces-world-s-first-direct-methanol-fuel-cell-for-portable-pcs/160097 "2003-03-09T16:37:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toshiba-announces-world-s-first-direct-methanol-fuel-cell-for-portable-pcs/160097/1 "2003-03-09T16:37:59Z")
Too cool! [Toshiba Announces World’s First Small Form Factor Direct Methanol Fuel Cell for Portable PCs](http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2003_03/pr0501.htm) > [@](#): > > Tokyo–Toshiba Corporation today announced the world’s first prototype of a small form factor direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) for portable PCs, a clean energy breakthrough with the potential to end reliance on rechargeable batteries. The new fuel cell currently realizes average output of 12W and maximum output of 20W, and can achieve approximately five hours of operation with a single cartridge of fuel. It provides instant power supply, and achieves significant advances in operating times with replaceable methanol cartridges. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toshiba-announces-world-s-first-direct-methanol-fuel-cell-for-portable-pcs/160097/2 "2003-03-09T17:14:45Z")
If you run out of fuel, can you eat a big bowl of beans and stick the fuel line up your, ehhh, fuel source? Methanol and methane are similar compounds and both are flammable. ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toshiba-announces-world-s-first-direct-methanol-fuel-cell-for-portable-pcs/160097/3 "2003-03-09T17:34:33Z")
Sounds to me like what they’ve done is found a way to sell methanol “rechargers” like the fuel bottles for butane lighters. I mean, the advantage of a rechargeable battery is that you _plug it in_. Or am I being ignorant of how the fuel cell works? The article indicates that you need a “cartridge of fuel.” ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toshiba-announces-world-s-first-direct-methanol-fuel-cell-for-portable-pcs/160097/4 "2003-03-09T17:37:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DirkGntly \* > \*\*Sounds to me like what they’ve done is found a way to sell methanol “rechargers” like the fuel bottles for butane lighters. I mean, the advantage of a rechargeable battery is that you _plug it in_. Or am I being ignorant of how the fuel cell works? The article indicates that you need a “cartridge of fuel.” \*\* The have increased the density at which you can store methanol by an order of magnitude. > [@](#): > > Methanol in a fuel cell delivers power most efficiently when it is mixed with water in a 3 to 6% methanol concentration–a concentration requiring a fuel tank that is much too large for use with portable equipment. Toshiba overcame this by developing a system that allows a higher concentration of methanol to be diluted by the water produced as a by-product of the power generation process. This technology allows methanol to be stored at a much higher concentration, and achieves a fuel tank less than 1/10 the size of that required for storing the same volume of methanol in a 3 to 6% concentration. The current prototype can operate for approximately five hours on 50cc of high concentration methanol. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toshiba-announces-world-s-first-direct-methanol-fuel-cell-for-portable-pcs/160097/5 "2003-03-09T18:03:58Z")
“Bartender, I’ll have a pint of lager. And bring some vodka for my laptop.” ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toshiba-announces-world-s-first-direct-methanol-fuel-cell-for-portable-pcs/160097/6 "2003-03-09T18:19:18Z")
**astro,** Yes, they have made a technological breakthrough, but it still looks from the article that you have to purchase a new cartridge for every 5 hours you want to run your laptop in a portable capacity… Seems kind of expensive, unless the cartridges are cheap as dirt. ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toshiba-announces-world-s-first-direct-methanol-fuel-cell-for-portable-pcs/160097/7 "2003-03-09T18:22:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \* > \*\*“Bartender, I’ll have a pint of lager. And bring some vodka for my laptop.” \*\* Actually, that would be ethanol, not methanol. BUT, this brings up a couple of thoughts: **a)** Would ethanol work? **b)** This would surely be nice it can be made as flexible as, say, those multi-fuel backpacking stoves, so you can power you laptop even if all you can get is some funky Botswanan diesel. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toshiba-announces-world-s-first-direct-methanol-fuel-cell-for-portable-pcs/160097/8 "2003-03-09T21:28:50Z")
I supposethis is very cool for the outdoorsy types who travel out of reach of electrical power. Me? Give me a couch, an electrical line, DSL and HDTV, OR GIVE ME DEATH! ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toshiba-announces-world-s-first-direct-methanol-fuel-cell-for-portable-pcs/160097/9 "2003-03-09T22:29:00Z")
I wonder if they will let you take this on airplanes - methanol does burn very well, and if its compressed, that might be a safety hazard. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toshiba-announces-world-s-first-direct-methanol-fuel-cell-for-portable-pcs/160097/10 "2003-03-10T00:20:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DreadCthulhu \* > \*\*I wonder if they will let you take this on airplanes - methanol does burn very well, and if its compressed, that might be a safety hazard. \*\* Just what we need… “And please remove the explosive cartrige from your laptops and throw them out.”