Sugar Could Power IPods, Cell Phones And Other Electronics More Efficiently

[jpak]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070325111602.htm

Science Daily — Juicing up your cell phone or iPod may take on a whole new meaning in the future. Researchers at Saint Louis University in Missouri have developed a fuel cell battery that runs on virtually any sugar source -- from soft drinks to tree sap -- and has the potential to operate three to four times longer on a single charge than conventional lithium ion batteries, they say.

For consumers, that could mean significantly longer time to talk and play music between charges. The new battery, which is also biodegradable, could eventually replace lithium ion batteries in many portable electronic applications, including computers, the scientists say. Their findings were described at the 233rd national meeting of the American Chemical Society.

"This study shows that renewable fuels can be directly employed in batteries at room temperature to lead to more energy-efficient battery technology than metal-based approaches," says study leader Shelley Minteer, Ph.D., an electrochemist at Saint Louis University. "It demonstrates that by bridging biology and chemistry, we can build a better battery that's also cleaner for the environment."

Using sugar for fuel is not a new concept: Sugar in the form of glucose supplies the energy needs of all living things. While nature has figured out how to harness this energy efficiently, scientists only recently have learned how to unleash the energy-dense power of sugar to produce electricity, Minteer says.

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[Occulus]

1. Sweeeeet n/t

[ClassWarrior]

2. LOL

NGU.

[crikkett]

3. good because i heard there was a lithium shortage.

[skids]

4. Where?

It ain't found here:

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&as_qdr=all&sa=N&resnum=0&q=lithium%20shortage&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&um=1&tab=wn

[crikkett]

6. it was an article in EVworld, that has since gone into archive.

you could google "peak lithium" to find discussion of that article, but I don't think there's much actual info out there.

World's largest Li salt reserves are in Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile and Tibet. If there were a shortage these regions would be hotspots.

There's a disagreement as to how much Li we would need in our modern lives.

A friend kindly points out to me (like, duh) that Li is the 3rd most prevalent element on the planet (behind H and He on the periodic table) and he doesn't foresee a shortage, just a need for a new industrial process to obtain it.

*I* don't know.

[skids]

7. Lithium will be a temporary step, anyway...

...while it's probably true that if you limit to current extraction methods, it would take our entire reserves of Li to convert the entire vehicle fleet, by the time we got to that point we'd be moving on to ultracaps and the Li in batteries would be recycled for other uses. Talking completely out of my arse I give Li battery technology 20 years before it is superseded. During those 20 years though it will be an utterly essential technology in the energy transition.

[Fridays Child]

5. Good. Maybe they'll use HFCS for this and get it the hell out of our food.

HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) is slowly poisoning this country to death, in my opinion.

[eppur_se_muova]

8. Ideal way to power prosthetics, implants, if glucose can be taken from blood.

Imagine an insulin pump, pacemaker, etc. that never needs to be recharged or have batteries changed because it takes energy directly from the blood supply. I'm sure that's the eventual goal.

[Dead_Parrot]

11. Ooh. That's a nice idea... nt

[ChairmanAgnostic]

9. oh great. more subsidies for Fiends of Bush in the sugar industry.

just what we needed

[Scriptor Ignotus]

10. sugar

is there anything it can't do?

[crikkett]

12. self-edit

I have listened to my Inner Ashcroft
:dilemma:

[flying rabbit]

13. sugar,

It's what's for dinner