15th
Cheap Fuel Cells For Everyone
Not sure why cheap, ubiquitous fuel cell technology would be restricted to the third world, but there’s a startup aiming to develop fuel cells for low-power DC devices in Africa using “dirt bags” that can be set up easily. Apparently, these fuel cells can be created for under a few bucks (one example cost $3, and cheaper ones seem to be the aim). Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) don’t really generate that much power, but cheap energy is cheap energy. Maybe a “startup” isn’t really the right way to develop this technology, but they have a nice website (too bad they don’t have instructions on how to make these MFCs on it). But Make seems to have some instructions to make a cheap fuel cells out of Band-Aids and in your backyard.. Perhaps someday we’ll all be brewing our own bio-diesel at home, too.
