IBM and Sanyo unveiled a ThinkPad computer whose energy source is a fuel cell
Avi Blizovsky
The IBM laptop with the methanol tank
Direct link to this page: https://www.hayadan.org.il/hydrothinkpad.html
It looks like a normal IBM ThinkPad computer in every respect - and in fact it is such a computer. What is special about it is the driving force: a compact fuel cell, the energy source of the next generation, which converts ethanol into electricity. IBM and Sanyo presented this technological breakthrough in the field of mobile computing, in a move that may change the face of the entire industry.
Car manufacturers are currently looking at fuel cells as an alternative energy source for cars. The personal computer industry is making the first moves in this direction, led by IBM. The prototype shared by IBM and Sanyo includes a fuel cell built in a structure that allows it to fit into most IBM ThinkPad models, without any changes to the computer or its standard batteries. A single container of methanol can provide up to 8 hours of work, and run even the most demanding applications, such as IBM software and multimedia applications. You can perform a "hot swap" of this tank, and continue working with a full tank without turning off the computer.
The methanol tank is inserted into the fuel cell unit. The fuel cell converts the methanol into electricity, and charges a standard ThinkPad secondary battery. The only by-product of this chemical process in which electricity is produced is water: some of this water returns and dilutes the methanol - and a minority of it evaporates into the air.
The new joint development by BMW and Sanyo presents a new benchmark in the race to the fuel cell for computers and mobile devices. This is the only battery of its kind that does not require any changes to the standard batteries, and is also able to charge the normal batteries inserted into it when the computer is not around.
This is still a prototype - and it is expected that it will take another few years until the finished product. However, it is clear to everyone that the day is approaching when alternative energy sources will feed the laptops, cell phones and other devices.
