Toshiba's methanol fuel cell

[mrkryz]

Looks like soon we might have environmentally conscious "green" cameras lol

dpreview.com has the specs but it looks very promising! 20hrs @100mAh off of 2cc methanol.

[Alan T]

mrkryz wrote:

Looks like soon we might have environmentally conscious "green" cameras

Fuel cells are just another means of converting hydrocarbon fuels into electricity, and are 'green' only in the sense that they don't produce oxides of nitrogen and unburnt hydrocarbons, as do internal combustion engines powered by unsustainable fossil fuels. They differ little in principle from carrying a portable gasoline-fuelled generator with you.

If you make your methanol by fermentation as 'wood alcohol' it's arguably a green power source, but no more so than a Ni-MH battery charged via a photovoltaic array or a wind generator.

Compact, affordable, fuel cell power for cameras and other portable electronic devices will indeedbe a great advance for expeditions such as long backpacking trips, because carrying around highly concentrated chemical energy is much easier than carrying any sort of stored electricity, but it isn't especially green.

You have to look atWHERE THE ENERGY CAME FROM to tell whether it's'green' or not.If you want green energy for your digicam you'll have to carry a windmill or a photovoltaic array.

[mrkryz]

Alan T wrote:

....windmill or a photovoltaic array.

Well mr smarty pants I'll have you know I wear my beanie whenever I'm shooting outdoors... before each shot I run up and down the street 4 times to drive the propeller enough to store a charge to operate the shutter hahahahaahah

Joking aside, I realize that every energy source needs to be derived from another (1st and 2nd laws of thermodynamics) what I meant by "green" is that methanol is not a completely fossil exhuasting source. Natural gas and synthetic variants have been made successfully so the effort is a steady progression into a completely renawble source. More so that by moving to a renewable energy source for personal electronics the savings of other resources used in the production of cells is considerable. When you consider the amount of plastic (petroleum derivitaves), nickel, cadmium, iron, lead etc that go into the manufacturing of rechargeable cells that have a finite life span any cell design that incorporates renewable technology is always a welcome change. Let alone the amount of wasted fossil resources used in the manufacturing of non-reusable cells (which are still the main stay in the world). I am far from a tree hugging, granola eating, flip-flop wearing environmentalist but I think that even small steps forward to conserve resourcesby renewable means is a great and worthwhile effort.

[Greg Chappell]

After reading all this I feel guilty about ever havingused cameras that were powered with mercury cells!

[sjms]

yes and this belongs in the new technology forum and at this point has little to do with Canon cameras right?

[Alan T]

sjms wrote:

yes and this belongs in the new technology forum and at this point has little to do with Canon cameras right?

I agree. I have replied privately to the originator of this thread. Anyone who wants to pursue these issues further should send me a private message or atrt a new thread elsewhere.

[jimbojetset]

haha... getting a bit 'deep' for a camera forum eh ... and I thought photography was an intellectual discipline :lol:

being serious, the science here is over my head, but nvertheless it sounds a positive advance.

jim