Cell phone users take hope: Long-lasting green batteries on the way (in a few years, that is)
The green tech blog-o-sphere has been abuzz this weekend, of course, with critiques and kudos for the Al Gore Nobel Peace Prize announcement. (Including this post by my GreenTech Pastures blogging partner Harry Fuller.)
But an imminently more practical and compelling tidbit caught my attention amid the Gore bore debate: the news that Samsung Electro-Mechnanics is working on a fuel cell and hydrogen generator combo that is capable of powering a cellular phone for up to 10 hours on a drop of water. You'll have to wait until at least 2010 to get your hands on the technology, but the fact is, mobile fuel cells that address our insatiable appetite for more environmentally friendly talk time while on the run are emerging from the research and development labs into prototype applications.
The Samsung story originated in Korea by The Chosun Ilbo news service.
NTT DoComo and Aquafairy (both from Japan) are likewise developing micro-fuel cells that run on alternative energy sources. Here's a bit more detail in a news story from the Cellular-News Web site.
Closer to home, one of the micro-fuel cell companies to keep your eye on will be UltraCell of Dayton, Ohio, which has made news of its own in the past month. Here's the company's primer on its micro-fuel cell technology. UltraCell's technology uses methanol as a fuel source to create the hydrogen gas, while Samsung's is supposed to use water.
Either way, it sure beats wandering around the airport looking for an unclaimed electrical outlet.