One day... methanol fuel cells for 100aH/day

Hi all

Image of fuel cell: [ View Image]

Jenny was flicking through a fishing magazine at the chiropractor's last night and came across a fuel cell that runs on methanol and puts out 300aH's worth of power from just a couple of litres of methanol. The only by-products are CO2 and water. It's very expensive at over $10,000 ....... but one day might come down in price to something affordable for camping. If it ever comes down to less than a couple of grand - it'd be as cheap as a good generator (without putting out all the crap) or a medium-sized solar system that only works well on a sunny day. Here's the article wording:

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Max Power's award-winning 'green' power alternative for boating, the MFC 100 Marine Fuel Cell, works by converting a combination of methanol and oxygen into electricity. It produces very low levels of toxic emissions, and has been awarded the Dame design award at the Marine Equipment Trade Show in Amsterdam and an innovation award at the Paris Boat Show.

The cell runs on methanol fuel, with one cartridge providing 300Ah of electricity at up to 100Ah of energy per day, enough to power most electrics onboard a boat. This reduces the need to run engines for extended periods of time in order to constantly recharge the boats batteries, and because the fuel cell provides power as required, the house batteries are not deep cycling, so their life is also prolonged. Max Power claim the unit is extremely quiet as it has no moving parts. The only byproducts of the cell are a very low level of carbon dioxide and water vapour.

The cell is priced at $10,800. For more information contact Max Power, tel 1800 029 948 or visit www.oceantalk.com
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