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| LG Chem’s Notebook and Fuel Cell |
LG Chem, a South Korean chemical company under the LG Group, has finalized the development of a laptop battery that boasts a lifespan eight times longer than competing products from Japan and the United States.
This will be the first fuel cell for notebooks to hit the market. Utilizing a 25W power source and based on DMFC (Direct Methanol Fuel Cell) technology, each battery is designed in two parts: a base unit costing $500 and a detachable fuel container with a capacity of 200 cc priced at no more than $1.
The device weighs nearly 1 kg, has a lifespan of 4,000 hours, and a single methanol cartridge can provide power to the laptop for a continuous 10 hours.
Unlike the model introduced by Antig (Taiwan) at the CeBIT technology fair in Germany earlier this year, this product operates as an external power source, connecting to the laptop via an intermediary power adapter.
LG Chem’s fuel cell will be released independently without collaboration with any notebook manufacturers. The company also plans to produce fuel cells for mobile phones, MP3 players, PDAs, and various other handheld devices with versions operating from 5 to 50W.
The global demand for fuel cells is projected to reach $600 million by 2006, with revenues expected to rise to $1.9 billion by 2010. Competing in the fuel cell market alongside LG Chem are Nokia, Toshiba, Sanyo, and IBM. The total revenue of the South Korean chemical company surpassed $50 billion in 2004.
