In a week of exciting news for clean power fans, we would be remiss to overlook Toshiba's announcement that it is finally ready for market with its long-awaited methanol fuel cell for powering all kinds of gadgets.
The Dynario is the first direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) to go on sale anywhere in the world, which gives an idea of why it's strictly aimed at early adopters for now.
Wait and see
Toshiba says it's offering just 3,000 of the ¥29,800 (£197) devices in an effort to decide whether or not to ramp up production and push down the price in future.
Come 29 October, Japanese tech-heads will be able to squirt 14ml [corrected] of methanol (50ml bottles are an eye-watering ¥3,150, or £21, a pop) into the Dynario and then use it to charge the equivalent of just two mobile phones via a USB cable.
Longer road life
Pricing issues aside, DMFC technology is clearly one to watch, as it frees gadgets from the tyranny of needing a hit of AC every few hours. The science of how it works will likely matter not a jot to most people.
If the Dynario is a success, we can expect the fuel cell market to rapidly become crowded with other manufacturers looking to reap the rewards and extend the life of all manner of mobile devices.
Via CNNGo
Your comments (2) Click to add a new comment
osiris
October 24th 2009
2. Fortunately, you can buy methanol from chemical supply houses for less than $5.00 / liter. Thats 142 charges for $5.00
Alert a moderator
pete_l
October 24th 2009
1. Just to correct the article.
One "shot" of methanol is 14ml - and this gives yo 2 mobile phone charges. Each bottle contains 50ml, of methanol so you get 3 and a half fill-ups per bottle. Your "eye watering" ¥3,150 buys you FIVE bottles, or nearly 18 fill-ups for your 21 quid (times 2, means 36 mobile phone recharges or about 60p per charge).
Alert a moderator
Tell us what you think
You need to Log in or register to post comments