Re: Powertrekk, taking hydrogen fuel cells on tour a potential gamechanger?

    All this sounds great except they don't mention that it takes at least 
twice the power to produce the hydrogen than what it returns. It's like the 
Ethanol they are putting in gasoline, it takes about two gallons of 
petroleum power to produce one gallon of Ethanol which has only about 1/2 
the power of a gallon of gas.
    It's like saying a bicycle gives you transportation without any power 
when we all know that it takes us furnishing the initial power. No matter 
how efficient, there is always a loss between input and output.

Jim Foreman


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Ayers" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Powertrekk, taking hydrogen fuel cells on tour a potential 
gamechanger?


> On 2/14/2011 8:27 PM, mmeiser wrote:
>
>>
>> Bottom line, put in water, get power.
>>
>>> From what I've read on it elsewhere it's not there, I see absolutely
>> no specifications anywhere on how much power you can get out of the
>> "disposable fuel cell packs".  Apparently it only puts out about 2.5
>> watts from hydrogen power, but this is supplemented by the lithium ion
>> battery which once charged can put out 5 watts of power which should
>> be well capable of charging a USB device. Inversely the internal
>> battery can also be charged off USB as well.
>>
>> The idea is a potential game changer if not now in the near future.
>> To be able to take devices with proprietary batteries like the
>> majority of cell phones, mp3 players, GPS, and digital cameras into
>> the backcountry would change the game considerably.  For example I
>> could get a nice DSLR like a cannon Mark IV and take it on remote
>> trips, say a trip around the world, without having to worry about how
>> I'm going to charge it.
>>
>> All that said... it's so futuristic the realities of such a technology
>> might never materialize, at least not in the form one might take on a
>> biking trip.
>
> I have thought for a while that fuel cells for small devices could be a 
> good idea, but I don't really like this implementation.
>
> If you dig around on the manufacturer's site you can find that the 
> "powerpukk" fuel pack delivers 4 Wh, using a sodium silicide reactant to 
> generate H2 gas.
>
> I think I still would prefer a liquid-fueled cell, such as a methanol 
> cell.
>
> Mike
>
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