Green Daily

When you think about fuel cell technology, you might think about the fuel cell cars that auto makers have been promising us for years. But it's starting to look like we might see commercial fuel cells become available on a smaller scale first.

MTI Micro is working on fuel cells that can power portable gadgets like digital cameras, cellphones, and MP3 players. The company is developing three types of fuel cell:

1. Power bricks that can charge or power devices when you're away from an outlet.
2. Removable fuel cell packs that plug onto existing devices in place of a Lithium-Ion battery.
3. Embedded fuel cells that would fit in the same small space as existing rechargeable or AA batteries.

While a single fuel cell can last significantly longer than Li-Ion or alkaline batteries, the technology still faces some infrastructure costs. If you use a fuel cell instead of a battery, you can't recharge your device by plugging into a wall outlet. Instead you need to remove an expired methanol cartridge and replace it with a new one.

Unlike batteries, Methanol is biodegradable and generally environmentally friendly. But you can't just walk into the corner store and pick up a methanol cartridge. Not yet anyway. MTI Micro is partnering with battery makers like Duracell and electronics manufacturers like Samsung, so there' s a good chance that if MTI Micro can bring their portable fuel cells to market by 2009 as expected, we might actually be able to walk into some stores and buy refill cartridges.

We caught up with MTI Micro CEO Peng Lim at Greener Gadgets and asked him about the company's plans.


You can also download this interview as an MP3.