What can run longer than the energizer bunny? Fuel cells powered by vodka and enzymes, if you can keep the enzymes around long enough. A St. Louis company is working that very problem, and hopes to one day make fuel cells that run for a month before you fill them back up:
Akermin, however, has developed a polymer membrane that is used to contain the enzymes and prevent them from breaking down.The result is a lab-scale fuel cell that has continuously generated power for more than two years and is still running, said Nick Akers, Akermin’s president and co-founder.
It requires the alcohol supply to be continuously renewed.
The company has demonstrated other breakthroughs, he said:
“The enzymes are able to completely break down the alcohol, increasing efficiency and providing a longer run time from a given volume of fuel than other types of fuel cells. A pen-cap full of alcohol lasts about 30 days”, said co-founder Shelley Minteer, a chemistry professor at St. Louis University, in a radio interview last year.
It has engineered a commercial prototype that stacks several tiny fuel cells into a device like a battery pack that is rugged and about the size of a cell phone.
So far, the prototype is just approaching the amount of power generation sufficient to fuel a cell phone. Creating a device that could run a laptop computer is years away, Akers said.
The eventual goal is creating a small, powerful array of fuel cells that last a long time and can be instantly “recharged” by replacing a small, portable and non-toxic alcohol cartridge. Corn-based ethanol is a likely source of fuel because there is a ready supply, but the cells have been shown to run on vodka, gin and even flat beer.
No word on how long before devices that can power flying cars will be on the market.
So maybe the push into ethanol as a renewable energy source will pay off after all.
OK, I do think it’s really cool that they are doing this work right here in my hometown.
