April 8, 2008 - MTI Micro says it's ready to begin mass-producing its tiny methanol-based fuel cells. The company hopes the new fuel cells will soon replace lithium-ion batteries in a wide variety of consumer electronics.

"The main advantage of fuel cells is that they will last twice as long as a battery pack of the same size...and the recharge time is almost nonexistent," MTI Micro CEO Peng Lim told CNet News. "Powering up a fuel cell-based phone only requires squirting in some new fuel or putting in a new cartridge."

While the fuel cells do release carbon dioxide - a byproduct of methanol's chemical reaction with oxygen - they offer some energy savings compared to lithium-ion batteries, which require electricity to charge. Methanol is produced from natural gas.

"Methanol is the most energetic of the materials with the least amount of trouble for making a product," says George Relan, vice president of corporate development at MTI. "You don't have to pressurize it, store it in cold temperatures, or make a powder of it - like you need with hydrogen - which you then have to mix with water to get a reaction. Methanol contains 5,000 watt hour energy per liter."

MTI Micro expects its new fuel cells to begin rolling off assembly lines by early next year.