For no matter how fantabulous and breathtaking a feature that design engineers could add to the smallest consumer electronics devices, it would count for nothing unless they could develop a power supply that will keep those devices running much longer than the most advanced lithium-ion batteries can.

After all, who would want to be teleported to Uranus when the teleporting device is liable to run out of juice while he or she is somewhere between Mars and the Moon? Or go back to the 17th century when the battery pack powering his time machine might go dead while he or she is still in transit somewhere the World War II years?

Are consumers then consigned to a fate of owning mobile devices as small as credit cards, but needing battery packs as big as those used in diesel trucks to make them run longer than they presently can?

Promises of Methanol

Lately, however, consumer and other end-users can take heart. Fuel cell technology, while undeniably barely out of its infancy stage, holds a lot of promise for consumers fed up with power limitations of lithium-ion batteries and similar mobile power technologies.

The direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is a type of fuel cell relatively more advanced than other types of fuel cell technologies in terms of R&D achievements recorded by manufacturers. Toshiba Corp., for example, developed a prototype DMFC product way back in 2003. With an average output of 12 watts and a maximum output of 20 watts, the prototype unit can provide about five hours of operation using 50ml of fuel. The product is designed to run using replaceable methanol cartridges.

The fuel cell is equipped with sensors and can communicate with a PC (which uses it as a power source), giving information on its operating status. The fuel cell can then adjust its power based on demand and supply. It even tells the user when to replace the methanol cartridge.

While the fuel cell promises dramatic gains in operating time for mobile devices, industry analysts foresee the technology co-existing for a while with the present crop of lithium-ion batteries and similar power sources. Some obstacles, however, remain before fuel cells can be brought to the mainstream. Methanol is a highly flammable liquid, and airport security for one would be quite reluctant to allow DMFC-powered products on planes.

Another issue is fuel cost. While methanol is relatively cheap, development and manufacture of cartridges would be a different matter. Finally, methanol cartridges will not be readily available until they start gaining market share, which will happen only once the industry has established standard specifications for DMFC or other types of methanol cartridges.

DMFC Prototypes Show What They Got

In September 2005, Toshiba introduced two prototype DMFC units and began conducting validation tests using mobile audio players. Available in 100mW and 300mW versions, the prototypes are, at present, the world’s smallest methanol fuel cells. The lower-power version, which offers up to 35 hours of power on a single 3.5ml methanol charge, has been installed on a flash-based audio player, while the higher-power product, which promises up to 60 hours on a single 10ml charge, is used to power a hard disk drive-type digital audio player.

Also, the design of the fuel cells reflects the current efforts of the industry to develop international standards for micro fuel cells. It also meets the proposed safety standards being reviewed by the International Electrotechnical Commission. Toshiba will exhibit the audio players and their fuel cells at the CEATEC Japan 2005 electronics trade show to be held in Tokyo, Japan, in October 2005.

Mobile electronics devices powered by fuel cells are expected to be commercially available by the year 2007. With the rate fuel cell technology is advancing, it can happen a lot earlier. The age of devices and gadgets with power supplies that go on and on and on…will finally dawn. It will be a most interesting era, even without the teleporter and time machine features and functions.