Alternative Power

Alternative power and the discussion of shifting American dependency on foreign oil has taken on specific prominence in today's world.

 

Fuel cells are just one of these alternatives and include a "refillable battery" filled with a solution of methanol and water that run as good as fuel.

 

PolyFuel, a provider of engineered membranes for portable fuel cells, (the membrane is the "heart" of the fuel cell, where electricity is essentially created) announced recently they have received a restored 2 million in funding from Congress and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for assistance and support in developing next generation fuel cell power supplies.

 

Fuel cells have become a solution not just for dependency on foreign oil, but also to meet the need for alternative power solutions for mobile electronic devices and in response to a growing "runtime gap" to replace battery packs and extend runtime for portable devices.

 

According to a news release, "The DOE believes that portable electronics will be one of the earliest commercial applications for fuel cells, and will help catalyze the adoption of fuel cell technology in the automotive and stationary power markets."

 

With PolyFuel's innovative fuel cell membranes, which are hydrocarbon-based, and replacing many of the older membrane technologies for fuel cells, the DOE, through the resorted funding for the program, hopes to "encourage the development of next-generation mobile fuel cell power supplies" as well as increase "the development of working "Direct Methanol Fuel Cell" (DMFC).