VIASPACE announced that its subsidiary, Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Corporation (DMFCC), filed a patent for tamper resistant fuel cartridges that provide fuel for small electronic devices.
Dr. Carl Kukkonen, the CEO of both VIASPACE and the subsidiary stated, “With this patent application, we are adding to our existing large intellectual property portfolio on direct methanol fuel cells and cartridges to power them. Many of our potential customers are looking at very small fuel cell applications requiring cartridges holding as little as 6 mL of fuel. This is about the size of the AA battery, but stores 17 times more energy if the fuel is methanol. Fuel cell cartridges containing methanol or other liquids used in fuel cells have to be safe to handle and resistant to unwanted access, especially by children.”
Frost & Sullivan, a market research firm, is expected to report on the latest developments in the fuel-cell markets at the upcoming Asian Fuel Cell/Battery Markets conference in Singapore. In a previous report, the research firm stated that the fuel-cell market is expected to produce 72 million unit shipments by 2010 and quadruple that number by 2013.
Current battery chemistries are struggling to meet the increased demand for more powerful and longer lasting batteries to use in portable devices. Frost & Sullivan believes that micro fuel-cell technology has a significant advantage over batteries with enormous potential to meet the rising consumer demand.
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