Hola Folks!
Magpower has developed a magnesium fuel cell which looks very promising!
http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=8fa48b97-2703-4038-8531-80f40139bbe0
11/01/05 - Magpower Magnesium fuel cells strike deal with China
In a deal worth $22 million, it will manufacture and distribute its
portable magnesium fuel cells in China via a Hong Kong company, exactly
the formula prescribed at the recent Hong Kong-Guangdong trade forum in
Vancouver.
"We can change and adapt the size and running time of any fuel cell to
match any power requirement, but we focused first on getting a small,
portable unit that is about the size of a car battery," McGroarty said.
The MagPower fuel cell has an edge because it is considerably cheaper to
produce than the oft-talked-about hydrogen fuel cell, said Jiujun Zhang,
a project leader and senior research officer at the National Research
Council of Canada, which has collaborated on research with MagPower.
Zhang says that the high cost of two elements in the technology behind a
hydrogen fuel cell, namely electrolyte memory and the platinum catalyst,
means it has a ways to go before it can be commercialized, never mind
reach a feasible price point for the competitive Chinese market.
MagPower fuel cells run on magnesium, the world's eighth-most-abundant
mineral, according to McGroarty. He says magnesium fuel cells are about
50 per cent less expensive to make than hydrogen fuel cells.
The simple magnesium anode and natural electrolyte make this cell less
combustible than a hydrogen fuel cell. It does not require a
safety-sealed fuel storage like HFC.
The fuel can either be magnesium or a magnesium-alloy, while the fuel
for HFC must be pure hydrogen. This makes MAPC easily transported by
plane with no special safety permits. It is safe around children since
magnesium is non-toxic.
--
Jerry Decker - http://www.keelynet.com
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