...and we thought hydrogen fuel cell was the answer

[TRDCorolla1]

This is revolutionary once it's applied:

New Bio Fuel Cell Extracts Electricity From Air (how crazy is that?!??)
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=6710

The bio fuel cell contains two electrodes that are covered with oxygen sensitive FeFe hydrogenase enzymes. The enzymes are attached to the electrodes using strong covalent and non covalent linkages to allow for fast electron transfers.

The electrodes and enzymes are then placed within a container of air which has a 3% mixture of hydrogen. Typical hydrogen fuel cells require expensive metals to serve as a catalyst for electricity production but this one works fine with hydrogenase, which has roughly the same productivity rate but does not require complex fuel-separation membranes to operate. Current testing shows that the prototype fuel cell is capable of powering small electronic devices such as a wristwatch.

 

[~mr mixx~]

Yeah, i saw something like that recently on a show..the Discovery Channel. It was amazing to see what these engineers finally came up with, but will the car manufactures catch on ?? soon i hope, cause gas just shot up again.

 

[TRDCorolla1]

It would really be something if this technology can be used for heavier industrial use. We'll see as the technology matures more. We have a lot of options for alternate energy use, but economy wise, it would pose a shock to the world if all this were to be released at one time!!! It would put a lot of big coporations out of business and the world market would literally crash should this ever occur.

I saw that movie iRobot last night on FX and all the stuff they had in the movie, we are totally there.

 

[Ð88]

so it can power a wrist watch but does it have the potential to power larger things ie. a car?

 

[David Lindon]

so it can power a wrist watch but does it have the potential to power larger things ie. a car?

Yeah I'd be rather skeptical about that too

 

[TRDCorolla1]

This reminds me of the movie, Back to the Future when the Doc created Mr. Fusion, lol. It takes garbage or anything for that matter and converts it into usable energy. I think we have this kind of capability now in a lab somewhere.

 

[Brookfield]

so it can power a wrist watch but does it have the potential to power larger things ie. a car?

ISOwner's comment hit's the nail on the head, [post 3] it matters not whether or not the scientists can do it.

 

[GlasseyeUK]

I would say that once you have broken with the actually science of it,then it will be only a matter of time before they figure it out for other uses, such as powering a car...

To look at in reverse, look at the size of the first computers, and now, our pocket calculators are more powerful then most of our first pc's

 

[Brookfield]

I would say that once you have broken with the actually science of it,then it will be only a matter of time before they figure it out for other uses, such as powering a car, to look at in reverse, look at the size of the first computers, and now, our pocket calculators are more powerful then most of our first pc's

I'm old enough to remember seeing pictures in Science Monthly, of a large 3 storey building that housed the first industrial computer, well computer complex would be a better description, as it occupied all 3 floors, row after row after row of 5 foot high grey cabinets with 36" punched tape reels on the front, constantly spinning, the output of which compares with a modestly priced laptop of today, the electricity consumption was huge, not only for the running of this monster, but also for the buildings cooling system, which apparently wasn't doing it's job, because 2 months after the picture was taken, the whole top floor overheated & blew up, & as there were no windows, took the roof clean off, raining down red-hot chunks of metal onto the grounds, no-one was injured, only the scientists pride!

 

[Ronco Rox]

Yeah, i saw something like that recently on a show..the Discovery Channel.

yeah same here, it was called "Future Cars". it was a 5 part series that was pretty cool. kinda scary though about the computers in the cars talking to other cars and shit. but don't be looking for an air powered car anytime soon. the gas companies will buy them out in no time.