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UltraCell Corporation Announces Portable Methanol Fuel Cell System

UltraCell Corporation announced a new fuel cell power source for portable electronic devices that has twice the energy density of lithium batteries. UltraCell’s reformed methanol fuel cell (RMFC) technology uses a micro reformer to generate fuel-cell-ready hydrogen from a highly concentrated methanol solution. This new portable power system has the power density of a hydrogen fuel cell but uses readily available, low cost methanol fuel in a compact package. Weighing just 40 ounces, the power unit is about the size of a paperback novel. The technology was developed by as a prototype for the military. This original system, the XX90, was designed for up to 45 watts of continuous power. Subsequently, the U.S. Army’s Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC) awarded UltraCell a contract to accelerate its development of a more compact portable system to run at 25 watts. This new power source is being developed for commercial use as the UltraCell25(TM) and will be available in 2006 for professional, industrial and mobile computing applications. Its name for the military will be the XX25. UltraCell’s micro reformer technology is designed to work in a user-friendly package that, with the push of a power button, self starts and feeds power […]

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Time to Close Fuel Economy Loopholes

A report released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) shows that closing three loopholes in national fuel economy standards can reduce U.S. oil dependence by nearly 1 million barrels per day and save consumers $14 billion per year within a decade. “Fuel Economy Fraud: Closing the Loopholes That Increase U.S. Oil Dependence,” tackles loopholes in fuel economy standards and investigates problems in the tax system that encourage automakers to produce gas-guzzlers. “It takes considerable imagination to say that the PT Cruiser, Subaru Outback wagon and sedan, Ford Freestyle or Dodge Magnum shouldn’t be treated the same as other cars,” said Don MacKenzie, lead author of Fuel Economy Fraud and vehicles engineer for UCS. “And that is only the tip of the iceberg: exemptions, credits, and tax breaks let automakers shirk their responsibility to address energy security, global warming, and the high costs of driving.” The new report provides a yardstick for evaluating a proposal from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that is expected later this month. Fuel economy standards are the nation’s chief tool for reducing America’s oil dependence. The forthcoming NHTSA proposal would be the first radical change to the fuel economy program since its […]

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