Raise a glass to the Methanol powered PC
I'm entirely familiar with the idea of blog posts being fuelled by alcohol, but thus far, I've found that PCs and drinks generally don't mix. Particularly not when you're watching YouTube on your laptop after a few too many and give your hardware a dousing...no, they are best kept well apart.
But all that could change now that the technology exists to run a PC on methanol; a substance very close to good old booze. The prototype of this greener laptop from Polyfuel uses a 'direct methanol fuel cell' (DMFC), in which the methanol is converted into an electricity to run the computer.
So what's green about this boozy solution to computer charging? Well, using this technology, you get the benefit of a renewable fuel that can be refilled -- it's essentially a new type of fuel cell. Fuel cells are power sources that generate electrical power quietly and efficiently, without pollution; the by-products from an operating fuel cell are just heat and water.
So how long will it be before you can walk into PC world and ask for a fuel cell powered laptop? Sadly, there is still no word when Polyfuel expect these to hit the market. But they do say that fuel cell powered consumer electronics are feasible within 2-3 years.
