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Hydrogen fuel-cell cars have received a great deal of attention over the years as a clean alternative to petroleum-based transportation, producing only water for exhaust. Certainly the technology is known. Demonstration vehicles have been produced by several manufacturers and Honda is starting to roll out a fleet of 200 FCX Clarity fuel-cell cars, available for lease to select customers for US $600 per month.
These autos are costing Honda hundreds of thousands of dollars each though, according to Honda's president Takeo Fukui (Wall Street Journal, June 16 2008), and it will take another decade before their cost falls below US $100,000. Although fuel-cell cars remain a long way from providing commercially viable transportation for the vast majority of people, cars are not the only application for fuel cells.
Fuel cells are reaching commercial viability sooner in other applications such as portable electronics, including laptops, cell phones, MP3 players and games, aiming to supplement the ability of batteries to power these mobile devices for extended periods of time. There are a number of reasons why fuel cells may prove more competitive in portable electronics than in cars, including the favorable cost, lifetime requirement and easier distribution in this market.
One of the companies developing fuel-cell technology for portable electronics is Polyfuel, using its proprietary hydrocarbon membrane technology for direct methanol fuel cells. The cost of power for portable electronics, according to Polyfuel president and CEO Jim Balcom, is up to US $10,000 per watt, compared with US $20-50 for autos, making portable electronics a much more attractive market than cars initially.
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