The New Batteries: Micro Fuel Cells...(essay written for Design & Technology)

Dr Sukhvinder Badwal's CSIRO research team is currently developing a compact,lightweight battery that could power a laptop computer for up to 24 hours, or a mobile phone for up to a month, before requiring a recharge. This lightweight battery infact, is not a battery at all, but a tiny, polymer-electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell that produces electricity electrochemically, by reacting hydrogen or methanol with oxygen. The reaction reproduces the chemistry of combustion, but runs "cool", …

…for portable use. Since Australian society is always open to new technology, the success of the Micro Fuel Cell will prosper immensely, since it has so many positive aspects, (almost no pollution emission, high power density low noise level) and very little defects, it could very well be the next "big thing" in Australia, and with the ongoing research and breakthroughs, they are more and more likely to become part of the Australian everyday life.