Tuesday, March 25, 2003
NEC, Toshiba , Hitachi and several other companies are working to unify the technical standards for tiny fuel cells that can be used to power laptops, cellular phones and other portable devices.
The fuel cells would be fueled with methanol, a hazardous substance, so the firms believe the cells must be designed and manufactured under a unified standard to maintain safety.
The manufacturers aim to enable such fuel cells to be used in various mobile devices. They will devise same-size products for each use, like in laptops and personal digital assistants. They also want to turn the standards into a global one by taking the lead in such efforts.
The fuel cells will be small enough to fit inside the palm of one hand and have two to three times the battery life of lithium ion batteries. Instead of recharging them, users need only exchange the compact container that holds the methanol or refill the cells.
A working committee formed by trade groups to which the major manufacturers belong -- such as the Japan Electrical Manufacturers Association, the Battery Association of Japan, and the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association -- will unify the standard. The committee will begin talks with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in April and flesh out the details next fiscal year.
Casio Computer, Canon, Sanyo Electric, Sharp, Sony, Fujitsu, Matsushita Electric Industrial and Mitsubishi Electric also plan to take part in the effort.
The manufacturers also believe that a unified standard will help boost the market for tiny fuel cells. Lithium ion batteries now used in cell phones are not standardized, but if fuel-cell standards are made uniform like they are for dry-cell batteries, the manufacturers believe the market for them will grow.
Japanese firms are rushing to switch to fuel cells to run digital devices. Lithium ion batteries may lack the power necessary for cell phones that can transmit video and laptops that have the computing power of supercomputers.
The market for batteries used in portable electronic devices will surpass 1 trillion yen in 2008, according to one estimate.
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