Comments on: Portable Fuel Cells, Not Ready for Primetime http://gigaom.com/cleantech/portable-fuel-cells-not-ready-for-primetime/ Sat, 26 May 2012 10:27:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Lilliputian Snags $28M for Consumer Electronics Fuel Cell Factory http://gigaom.com/cleantech/portable-fuel-cells-not-ready-for-primetime/#comment-7399 Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:31:19 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/2007/09/24/portable-fuel-cells-not-ready-for-primetime/#comment-7399 [...] batteries and weigh 20 to 40 times less. Of course, fuel cells have been long on promises and short on products for decades, with a history of delays and missed milestones. And some fuel-cell companies are [...]

]]> By: Fuel Cell Firm Feels the Pinch « Earth2Tech http://gigaom.com/cleantech/portable-fuel-cells-not-ready-for-primetime/#comment-7398 Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:01:53 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/2007/09/24/portable-fuel-cells-not-ready-for-primetime/#comment-7398 [...] released its 24-7 Power Pack back in 2007. It’s a small fuel cell charger that runs on sodium borohydride that can be used for cell [...]

]]> By: Military Gets All the Fun Stuff: SFC Selling Mobile Fuel Cells for Defense « Earth2Tech http://gigaom.com/cleantech/portable-fuel-cells-not-ready-for-primetime/#comment-7397 Fri, 20 Feb 2009 21:01:34 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/2007/09/24/portable-fuel-cells-not-ready-for-primetime/#comment-7397 [...] other portable devices that you can buy right now. But their fuel cell runs on sodium borohydride, generating a waste product — borax — and costing more energy to produce than it provides. Of course, methanol isn’t [...]

]]> By: b http://gigaom.com/cleantech/portable-fuel-cells-not-ready-for-primetime/#comment-7396 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:29:27 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/2007/09/24/portable-fuel-cells-not-ready-for-primetime/#comment-7396 “which costs more energy to produce than the product provides.”

I’m a little confused about this comment. If it were the other way around – the product produced more energy than went into making it – then you could use the energy to make another product, and keep the surplus energy. You would have, in other words, a perpetual motion machine. Obviously this is impossible.

Actually, by the second law of thermodynamics, all power sources cost more energy to create (conversion device + fuel) than they provide (energy output).

]]> By: Thomas http://gigaom.com/cleantech/portable-fuel-cells-not-ready-for-primetime/#comment-7395 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 09:59:28 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/2007/09/24/portable-fuel-cells-not-ready-for-primetime/#comment-7395 I know it’s a bit late now but have you tried to order the Valeswood’s hydrogen fuel cell?
(http://www.valeswood.com/hydrocell.php)

The company mainly seems to be a technical consultancy/integrator but the Hydrocell might be actually their own product…

-Thomas-

]]> By: MTI Micro’s CEO Talks, Getting Portable Fuel Cells to Market « Earth2Tech http://gigaom.com/cleantech/portable-fuel-cells-not-ready-for-primetime/#comment-7394 Thu, 27 Sep 2007 13:01:37 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/2007/09/24/portable-fuel-cells-not-ready-for-primetime/#comment-7394 [...] 27th, 2007 at 6:00 am in Energy We gave portable consumer fuel cell developer MTI Micro a bit of a hard time in a post this week about how long the technology was taking to get to market — it’s slated for [...]

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