Apple’s Incredible New Plans Revealed
- Posted on December 25, 2011 at 9:24pm by
Christopher Santarelli
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The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office have received proposals from Apple that indicate the electronics company is working on products powered by hydrogen fuel cells, that they claim have the potential to stay charged for weeks, and “eliminates the need for a bulky and heavy battery.”
Remarks by the company in the patent fillings would indicate that the proposal to shift to hydrogen fueled products was influenced not by user experience but customer awareness:
“Our country’s continuing reliance on fossil fuels has forced our government to maintain complicated political and military relationships with unstable governments in the Middle East, and has also exposed our coastlines and our citizens to the associated hazards of offshore drilling. These problems have led to an increasing awareness and desire on the part of consumers to promote and use renewable energy sources.”
A hydrogen fuel cell converts hydrogen and oxygen into water and electrical energy. The Telegraph notes that the technology has long been touted as a potential power source for cleaner cars and electronics manufacturers have shown growing interest in replacing batteries with such fuels cells that would last longer and produce only water as a by-product.
In October, another pair of Apple patent applications were published showing that the company was looking into ways to grasp more fuel from lighter hydrogen fuel cels. The Daily Mail notes that while the iPhone 4s was released shortly after Apple icon Steve Jobs’s death, “a technological breakthrough like an entirely different battery would be a massive upswing for the company.”
Check out a diagram presented to the patent office with Apple’s proposal:
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Comments (152)
SychinLegacy
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 11:36pmPeople seem to forget the first basic rule of chemistry. And physics and well pretty much everything of life.
Energy in must equal energy out. Sure you may be able to make this super powerful hydrogen ion cell that can power electronics for months, but there must be an equivalent amount of energy first put into the cell before that can happen. And where exactly is that energy going to come from? It’s not green at all. It’s basically just adding a new medium to burn fossil fuels on.
That and the recharge time will probably be awful since you have to put a month’s worth of charge into it. It will probably take two weeks to fully charge.
Report Post »Ohello
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 12:24amLooks like the Fuel Cell (100) is a stand alone device used to recharge the portable device. H2 looks to be electro-chemically generated in item 228. The diagram is does not state how or what the fuel components are. Electrolysis or something similar could be the process used in 228, power for the electrolysis could come from solar cells or photo voltaic action.
The right chemical interactions might be possible using semi-conductor principles along with some innovative materials.
Report Post »SchiffRadiodotcom
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 12:45amIt may also be a miniature hydrogen bomb. But the lawsuit from that would be small compare to the profits.
Report Post »MeteoricLimbo
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 12:50amSychinLegacy- lets see, a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate (saltpetre) produces a lot more energy then was expended on it….doesn’t it? Well the Chinese seemed to think it did.
Report Post »Dman12
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 1:34amWow, you are as dumb as they get, stop pretending to be smart – i despise people who try to act like they know something.
prage2001
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 2:19amYeah. The amount of energy it takes to produce mass quantities of Hydrogen is massive. The only practical way to do it would be by building more nuclear power plants. So all the people hailing this new “green” power will at the same time protest any process needed to make it viable.
Report Post »MysteryGirl
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 2:42amA true breakthrough would entail finding a unique energy source, such as dilithium crystals, as long as Mudd’s women were still keeping the miners happy. Otherwise, the mouse I have on the treadmill does just fine.
Report Post »MysteryGirl
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 2:45amI think we just found work for all the OWS deadbeats ….. wait, they’re allergic to anything but a drain on society.
Report Post »wbalzley
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 5:17amBecause the fuel cells are relatively small and only need to be changed out on a weekly basis, they could be swapped out at a “battery exchange.” You pay a fee to change out your old cell for a freshly charged one. Either that, or you buy two batteries and charge the one while using the other.
As for explosive potential…the whole point of a fuel cell is to lock the explosive material into a stable solid-state device. The liquid fuel in your gas tank is far more dangerous.
As for where the energy will come from–any source of electricity. Coal, Natural Gas, Solar, Nuclear, Wind, Geothermal…you name it. Advantages include that we can store that energy for long periods of time and ship it where and when it is needed without additional infrastructure.
We have made great strides in energy production and storage over the past few years. We have made hundreds of advancements in solar alone. Alternative technology is on track to be competitive (without subsidy) by 2015. We could eliminate our need for fossile fuels by 2030…if we push ourselves to do so…
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 5:37amYou are correct about energy input equals energy output. But, I suspect it will be a removable battery – disposable or reFILLable (not reCHARGEable). If you have a propane tank that takes months to empty at a slow bleed, you can refill it quickly at a high-flow rate.
That being said, to MAKE the hydrogen, you must separate it from water or air, etc. This consumes ELECTRICITY. Electricity in the U.S. is primarily generated by coal. So, more ELECTRIC devices means more coal burning. I’m a big supporter of coal, so that is fine by me. But, let’s not pretend it is all “green” because it is NEW.
Now, my biggest question is…
Since the byproduct is WATER…
Is my iPhone going to start peeing in my pocket? LOLOL
RESTORING LOVE , July 26 27 28 , Dallas, TX
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Report Post »loriann12
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 7:46am@wbalzley
Exchanged, sort of like we do now with propane tanks for the grill? Sounds feasible to me. It will be like anything else in society, really expensive at first, and then as things for production get paid off, the price goes down. Remember how expensive VCRs were when they first came out?
Report Post »Miami
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 7:50amGuys, nothing happens till it does.
If they can make this work, its a wonderful idea, hydrogen is the most common element. Which will once again drive the anti American Marxist/Socialist what have you, insane with the inequality. These units are going to be costly for quite some time, forcing them to form anti- hydrogen groups. Just picture them picketing the ocean…
Here’s an idea make it work and bring it to market…
Report Post »pissedlizard
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 8:17am@MeteoricLimbo
There is a difference between potential and kinetic energy as well as the polarity of the bonds and energy produced when those bonds break.
Help yourself to an organic chemistry book because you sound like an uneducated fool.
Report Post »RRFlyer
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 10:21amWow SYCHINLEGACY one of the few posts here that make sense. That‘s why we don’t have hydrogen cars. No one can afford the fuel
Report Post »nevinc
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 10:38amHey, ask the “Terminator” how well his fuel cell exploded? You know someone will tear this thing down and figure out something else to do with it through reverse engineering…
Report Post »mastice
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 10:52am@wbalzley
Despite these leaps and bounds you speak of in renewable energy in the last few years, according to eia.gov, renewable sources still only produce about 8% of the total energy needed in the US. I would debate and disagree very strongly that we could cut our ties to fossil fuel burning for electricity by 2030 as you stated.
That is not to say that we shouldn’t continue to make the switch. Putting aside the debate on ‘global warming’, switching to a diverse renewable resource for our electrical needs makes sense. (practical standpoint, eventually fossil fuels will either run out or get harder and harder to extract, which drives up costs even more… and yes I know we are a long time away from that but why not get a head start?)
Fuel cell technology, while not perfect yet, is really one direction we should be looking at. It still requires large amounts of energy to make but with respects so did the first wind turbine or solar panel. It’s only after time and refinement that costs, energy associated with it, will come down and it may become more efficient. And it may not.
Report Post »SychinLegacy
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 11:03amI just wanted to comment on Meteoriclimbo. You are 100% incorrect. The energy to make those chemicals bond was put in through thousands of years of pressure under the earth’s surface. Chemicals don’t just appear they have to be created some how.
Also if they are like “refillable” like a gas tank then my original point still holds true. Where are we going to find this hydrogen? Energy is going to have to be expended to put the initial hydrogen into the tank. Which more than likely means we will still be using coal or gas burning to create hydrogen through a reaction. You can’t just go and find a hydrogen cloud floating in the sky somewhere.
Report Post »turkey13
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 11:04amEver see a fish that jumped out of water onto the bank. The fish really breaths deep but for a lack of oxygen dies. One hundred years from now that will be us the human race. Of course our machinery will run on for awhile. Being green isn’t alway cool. Remember the Bio- fuel plant last year in Arkansas that was polutting thr Arkansas river with the residue left over from making the nice green fuel.
Report Post »MeteoricLimbo
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 2:01pmWell then I stand corrected Sir. I am not one to resort to name calling however. Thank you and have a great new year.
Report Post »NES
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 2:04pmBack when I worked for Samsung, one of our research groups already submitted a patent application for this back around 2006.
Report Post »MeteoricLimbo
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 5:17pm@pissed
Report Post »I never professed to be Einstein, but I am willing to learn. Have a great New Year Sir
NC-Roy
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 6:15pmHmm. Sounds more like an opportunity for apple to sell itty bitty specially crafted beautiful bottles of HYDROGEN to refill the phone. Like as in $15 or 20 per recharge. They will be beautiful, with incredible bling. And won’t ever have a discount.
The iHydrogen Refilling bottle, of course, will be available at the genius counter at your local iStore, and will cost iDollars. Figure one of those nice bottles per week, at $15 each. What convenience. What profit!!
Report Post »A Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 7:34pmThis is a bubble technology; it’s politically motivated.
The patent remarks said:
“Our country’s continuing reliance on fossil fuels has forced our government to maintain complicated political and military relationships with unstable governments in the Middle East, and has also exposed our coastlines and our citizens to the associated hazards of offshore drilling.”
No, our state governments‘ willingness to impose unconstitutional federal laws in violation of their constituents’ right to liberty is what is crippling our own fossil fuel output. Also, the “hazards” of off-shore drilling to which it refers ignores the fact that the private sector was willing and able to clean up the mess while Obama got in their way for more than a month.
The “hazard”, such that it was, wasn’t even that bad.
Obama made a mountain out of a molehill, and the greatest damages from the spill came first in the form of those who died – for which BP should be held accountable; but ONLY for the immediate damages – and second in the form of the regulations which crippled businesses after the spill was deliberately allowed to reach the shore.
Report Post »jtsemon
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 8:03pmthe fuel could be something as simple as a pellet or cartridge that is inserted; about the size of a medicinal capsule.
Report Post »ChevalierdeJohnstone
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 9:43pmExactly! Compressing hydrogen is really incredibly expensive and energy-intensive.
Report Post »Poggle The Stick
Posted on December 27, 2011 at 10:08amI’d be willing to charge my phone all night, and I mean ALL night, if a single battery charge would hold for a whole month and a half. I don’t do anything when I sleep, so it can charge all it wants.
Besides, the technology WILL develop more, because all technologies start out basic. Then, 15 to 20 years later, we make a breakthrough with them.
THAT’s what America is all about.
Report Post »GENE BLISTER
Posted on December 27, 2011 at 12:00pm@mysterygirl Those crystals only focus and temper the matter/antimatter annihilation reaction, they don’t create or store energy. Sarium Krellide power cells…now thats the way to go!
Report Post »Lord I wish my mind would store and retrieve useful information as well as it soaks up worthless technobabble!
What_Did_I_Miss
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 11:20pmOh course, they will need to use fossil fuel generated electricity to generate the hydrogen supplies. Don’t let the technical realities get in the way of a good hyped story though.
Report Post »oldguy49
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 11:25pmG.M. was also trying to get the fuel cell to work…..obama cancelled it…………….perfected the fuel cell can not only run your car but also your home……….i wonder who would not want everyone to be self-suficent with their oun power………
Report Post »paperpushermj
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 2:16amYou saw the future Old Guy. Homes with fuel cells running on natural Gas. No need for long transmission line Gobbling up large amounts of power just to bring power to your City,Town or community. Then through all the feeder Stations yada yada yada all taking their share of power all gone because each house, building making the power they need on sight.
Report Post »wbalzley
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 5:55am@Paper Pusher MJ: I could not agree with you more. People fail to understand that “fuel cells” are more like an engine than a battery. They “burn” fuel, but rather than produce mechanical energy, they produce electricity directly. This is far safer and more efficient.
Fuel cells can be “recharged” like a battery, but they don’t have to. You can simply “fill ‘er up” just like a gas tank. Also, you can build fuel cells that run on nearly any kind of fuel–not just hydrogen…we could even build one to run on gasoline if we wanted to…
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 8:56amOh wow, oh wow oh wow …..
Report Post »SirFlannel
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 11:17pmAre those type of fuel cells rechargable? It is possible to add more hydrogen and oxygen by plugging it into a wall outlet? If not, then you’re not looking at recharging every couple of months, but replacing cells. Brilliant sales strategy Apple, make your hipster dupes pay for new green fuel cells every two months! I swear, Apple could sell a steaming pile of crap, call it iPoo… and dolts would buy it! And brag
Report Post »WireWizard
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 1:35amIt is likely you would refill the fuel cartridge from a pressurized canister like refilling a lighter.
Report Post »AhLeahIris
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 3:07amWireWizard, that would be clever. Problem is, a can of compressed hydrogen would make a great IED, more potent even than those into which the butane cannisters can be made. The real problem is, as others have pointed out, that you don’t get free energy. Electrolysis to turn water back into hydrogen and oxygen will require juice, and that electricity has to be generated somewhere.
But here’s a thought experiment for the green weanies who think electric cars are a great plan: What uses less fossil fuel: An electric car recharged at your house, with miles of lossy cabling from the power station to you, with the power plant burning the fossil fuels, or a car of the same weight and aerodynamic contour burning the fossil fuels directly?
People get hung up on buzzward bingo, but the problem is that as one comment already stated, there’s no such thing as energy from nothingness, claims of string theorists aside, and the best thing you can do for cheap energy is to figure out how to capture it where you can when it’s closer to free. (solar, geotheral, hydro, wind, gravity) The problem with any of these is that you must still build the mechanism for capturing it. Those mechanisms are generally too large and inefficient for practical travel, and much too variable to be reliable.
If current electic car technology was more cost-effective, goverment wouldn’t need to subsidize it. The free market is etremely rational about such questions.
Report Post »wbalzley
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 6:10am@Ahleahiris: Yes, hydrogen gas is highly explosive–but so is gasoline. In fact, that was one of the main arguments against gasoline-powered cars when they were first developed. Whenever you pull into a gas station just think of all that wonderful, explosive fuel sitting in large tanks beneath your feet…terrorists will make a bomb out of anything…
As for your quip about Quantum Mechanics. QM does not say you can get energy from nothing, it says that there is no such thing as NOTHING…even the vacuum of space is filled with rudamentary “stuff” that can self-assemble into matter (or energy). Scientists are trying to figure out what this “stuff” is and how we can use it.
Report Post »audiemurphy
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 11:08pmbattery innovation fuel technology is the wave of the future.
Report Post »apple currently is a leader in handheld electronics so it only stands to reason that they could innovate a bettery battery or power source. I hardly doubt this patent is for powering phones.
Apple started out as a computer maker , then branches out to innovate handheld phones and portable devices, this is the next branch off a very sturdy tree.
Dont be surprised if you ate buying apple cars in ten years.
wbalzley
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 6:16amEnergy storage has come a long way. In the next few years, we will see the emergence of several new battery technologies, including fuel cells, ultra-capacitors, lithium-air batteries, flow-batteries, and solid-state batteries. The competition will be intense, forcing innovation and driving down price.
Report Post »BetterDays
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 10:38pmA cell phone that dribbles water down my leg a few times a day just doesn’t seem all that attractive to me at this junction. But then I’m still using my four year old school flip phone, I guess gps tracking and all the aps just don’t float my boat either.
Report Post »Next app,e will announce a biometric implant that’s placeable either in your head or hand, gee I KNOW I won’t get that one.
Baddoggy
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 11:04pmUnplug from the Matrix…
Report Post »Ron Paul 2012
wbalzley
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 6:27amImplantable electronics are being developed, but will not be commercially viable for about 10 years. I am all for technology, but I have to admit the idea of connecting an electronic device to my nervous system makes me a little, well…NERVOUS…
I have two fields of study: Business, and Information Technology. Both of these tell me that connecting a computer to my body is a BAD idea. My IT background tells me that anything is hackable, and my business background tells me that companies will do ANYTHING to make a profit. I really don’t want to give them access to my biochemistry…
Report Post »Nations
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 10:27pmNot that one is, but that whereby Is, is.
Report Post »macpappy
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 10:07pmBy far the best Apple product is it’s marketing dept.
Report Post »seeker9
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 11:26pmThe head marketer recently went to JCPenney.
Report Post »bocajojo4
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 10:04pmDon’t tell Obummer or the EPA….
Report Post »Lone Ranger
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 10:04pmI didn’t pee my pants, that’s my iPhone.
Report Post »80mesh
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 10:00pmpump and dump …wait till one of those fuel cells cook off in your pocket …roasted NUTZ
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 9:59pmThe amount of power generation compare to water production may be manageable for an electronics device. Remember our refrigerators also produce a fair amount of water ( from condensation) yet that is adequately managed.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 10:19pmExcept during summer humidity
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 10:52pmso, you woulnt mind strapping a catheter for your phone to your leg huh ? lol
by the way, the heat from the compressor is what makes refrigerant condensation manageable
Report Post »1776freedomofspeech
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 9:58pmHype it up!
Report Post »TheHillbillyCapitalist
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 9:56pmImagine that. American free-market capitalism is driving innovation. I don’t care if they do believe in global warming. Free markets will always bring out the best from the worst.
Report Post »WTP
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 9:53pmStand by to be amazed…………..
Report Post »chips1
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 10:18pmThe line is already getting longer at the stores. Apple just invented another riot. Spend your Obama stash before it becomes worthless. UMGOWA!!!!
Report Post »J3nn.net
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 9:51pmApple is one of the greatest attestations for what is so fantastic about capitalism. Their visions come to fruition because they have been allowed to–for the most part–innovate, inspire, and grow. Imagine what the free market would bring to us if our government didn’t try to implement fascist regulations and overbearing taxation every step of the way, as well as interfere with markets by keeping the failing ones on life support and the Fed Reserve that manipulates the value of… everything.
In 2012, vote for liberty. Vote for free market capitalism. Vote for Ron Paul!
Report Post »MeteoricLimbo
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 9:50pmHmmm, is light weight stainless steel in the works? curiouser and curiouser
Report Post »wbalzley
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 6:30amLook up “metallic glass” you might find the applications interesting…
Report Post »Micmac
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 2:45pmTransparent aluminum a la Scottie
NoBama 2012
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 9:49pmHydrogen fuel cells produce water while phone warranty is void upon evidence of water damage.
How will Apple dance around that issue?
Report Post »MeteoricLimbo
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 9:53pmperhaps they are thinking outside the phone so to speak?
Report Post »BlueGoggles
Posted on December 26, 2011 at 12:25amFast gaming computers already use water as coolent for the processor, This could lead to even faster smart phones
Report Post »asybot12
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 9:44pmI didn’t know it was April 1 yet (don’t be fooled 101)
Report Post »LiveNation
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 9:39pmAre ya happy to see me? or do you have a cell phone in your pocket?
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 9:51pmMae West!
Are you here for good? Or are you here for bad?
Report Post »BlackAce41
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 9:39pmWell i can see their price for an Ipad going to through the roof……………….
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 9:39pmGood luck getting that on a plane.
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 9:48pmIt brings the concept of cell phone detonation to a whole new level.
Report Post »chips1
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 10:09pmAPPLE? Could this just be from the forbidden fruit tree I’ve heard about? Nah! Just a coincidense!!!!
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 10:20pmIt may not be forbiden, but this Apple may get you felt up by TSA.
Report Post »bigfatslob
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 9:33pmGimmic
Report Post »dealer@678
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 9:33pmSorry, Oh Wow Oh Wow Oh Wow
Report Post »BornJewishMuslimByFaith
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 9:32pmThis is amazing. I would applaud Apple if they can ever make this magic happen.
Report Post »dealer@678
Posted on December 25, 2011 at 9:30pmOh My Oh My Oh My
Report Post »