Further Apple Patents Show How Fuel Cells Could Integrate into Future MacBooks, Charge iDevices
Apple is exploring innovative fuel cell stack configurations for use in its highly successful portable consumer electronics, four newly published patent applications can reveal. Published by the US Patent and Trademark Office, the applications are entitled Parallel Fuel Stack Architecture, Reduced-Weight Fuel Cell Plate, Fuel Cell System to Power a Portable Computing Device and Fuel Cell System Coupled to a Portable Computing Device and represent the company’s desire to remove some of the common caveats associated with fuel cell stack development.
The patent applications carry a surprisingly strong socio-political message that shows sincerity in Apple’s interest in powering their devices more sustainably.
“Our country’s (USA) 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. As a consequence of this increased consumer awareness, electronics manufacturers have become very interested in developing renewable energy sources for their products, and they have been exploring a number of promising renewable energy sources such as hydrogen fuel cells.”
Source: FuelCellToday
