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Enzyme Bio-Battery Runs on Ethanol 199

Posted by chrisd from the douglas-adams-was-right dept.
mpthompson writes "According to this article at New Scientist.com substantial progress is being made on enzyme-catalyzed ethanol based batteries to run cell phones and laptops. Such batteries promise to be cheaper, safer and less toxic than previously demonstrated methanol based fuel cells."
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Enzyme Bio-Battery Runs on Ethanol More

Enzyme Bio-Battery Runs on Ethanol

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  • Finally! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Linux_ho ( 205887 )
    A beer-powered laptop!
    • But how will I get any work done if the computer drinks all my beer? :[

      Oh, wait...
    • I went to read the article, but it was down. No surprise there. /.)

      I am guessing the ethanol is 'consumed' by the fuel cell and the energy that is released by the process is available to power your laptop (et.al) ... and needs occasional replentishment - but - question here :

      Does replentishing the ethanol provide the fuel cell with a full charge, or does the fuel cell still need to be recharged by the proper application of electricity?

      If adding ethanol removes the need to plug it in (ever) to recharge t
      • So does an ethanol-powered laptop become more unstable, the more ethanol it consumes? The last thing I need is my laptop getting all slobbery and telling me how much it loves me and then puking a spreadsheet all over the keyboard.

        So, between this technology and Intel's new overclock-prevention technology, are we giong to have some sort of computer cops pulling over laptops?

        "Do you know how fast you were going back there, Sparky? Whoa! What's that I smell? Step out of the car, please. I'm going to need yo

  • Hmmm... (Score:4, Funny)

    by EFGearman ( 245715 ) <EFGearman@@@sc...rr...com> on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @11:11AM (#5591004)
    Batteries run off of vodka or gin?

    "A charge for you, and a blast for me."

    EFGearman
  • Overheating.

    We all know that the enzymes hate heat - that is, they get denatured by heat. From what I feel on my lap when a laptop was put on it, I really wonder how do something as sensitive as enzyme withstand the working temperature of a computer (I guess that'll be one of the application, from the article).

    When you shrink that (from the article, they are going to.), the problem goes even more wild... ;-)

    • Re:The major problem of the next year may well be. (Score:5, Informative)

      by Rich0 ( 548339 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @11:23AM (#5591109) Homepage
      I really wonder how do something as sensitive as enzyme withstand the working temperature of a computer

      There is a whole industry [altus.com] based on developing crosslinked enzyme crystals which are useful in industrial applications as catalysts. The crystals are literally poured out of plastic bottles as a powder and many can function in organic solvents (which would completely denature ordinary enzymes). The cross-linking holds together the overall tertiary structure of the enzyme, and the enzyme tends to hang onto water where it needs it to maintain secondary structure.

      I don't know exactly how thermally stable they are, but I imagine they can take quite a bit. While the technology probably hasn't been applied to the enzymes in question I imgaine that if the money was there it could be done.
      • But then the major problem is that the enzymes are replacable in the industrial container, but as I would believe, the battery would probably be disposible (i.e. you can't possibly add enzyme into it)

        Moreover, the cross-linked enzyme crystals are able to withstand organic solvents but they are not that heat-stable - and if they are overheated, we can just hope that they don't go denatured, but their specificity to temperature will not change, i.e. Power goes down when temperature goes up or down, ooops....
        • Moreover, the cross-linked enzyme crystals are able to withstand organic solvents but they are not that heat-stable - and if they are overheated, we can just hope that they don't go denatured, but their specificity to temperature will not change, i.e. Power goes down when temperature goes up or down, ooops.... ;-)

          I recall that there has been quite a bit of work being done to industralize the enzymes from the bacteria that grow in sulphur mudpots in places like Yosemite, and to understand what makes them t
    • The article was fairly scarce on details, but there are thermostable enzymes. We use some that are perfectly fine after sitting at 90+ degrees (C) for hours. These are from bugs that live in hot areas (geothermal vents), and therefore need thermostable enzymes. The most common example is the Taq polymerase used in PCR.

      There are other enzymes that tolerate boiling, and other extreme conditions. They are inactive in the severe condition, but have such a stable tertiary structure that they snap right back when put into the proper environment again. Mammalian RNAses are notorious for this.

      From the article, however, the restriction of the enzymes to these pockets may help. For those that don't know, enzymes have a structure like a ribbon (or several ribbons) that fold back on themselevs in a particular way. By thermodynamics, as you add heat, you add entropy and the ribbon moves around too much to stay in its functional orientation.

      Keeping the enzyme in a small, restrictive pocket may restrict its random motion enough to help keep the ribbon from unfolding, allowing the enzyme to function at a higher temperature than it normally would.

      • Yes, as I'm also involved in biochemistry/mol. genetics, there are Heat-stable enzymes, but remember, field-conditions are not like lab conditions, where we can add as much and replace as much enzyme as we want, and it's not that the enzyme is stop then it's stopped.

        When it comes to laptop, we need a stable power supply.. who wants a supply that only work in 20oC < x < 40oC (the actual margin may well be stricter)... ;-)

        but a Li-Ion backup will fix this...wait.. isn't that a big weight added on it.
    • <karmawhore>
      More info here:

      http://www.wileyeurope.com/cda/cover/0,,04714992 69 |excerpt,00.pdf
      </karmawhore>
  • This is great news. Now I just need to buy a variety of mixers to carry in my laptop case. A splash of fruit juice, maybe some ginger ale, and I can drink my battery fuel!!!

    Seriously, this has been a long time coming, and yes there have been a few other Slashdot stories about ethanol powered batteries. I would love to get a hold of a laptop that runs for hours on end on grain alcohol.

    • Re:What about a mixer? (Score:5, Funny)

      by JonTurner ( 178845 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @11:53AM (#5591345) Journal
      >>This is great news.
      Yeah, until you try to sneak it onto an expense report:

      Taxi - $28.00
      Meal @ airport - $11.45
      Hotel - $85.00
      Eight bottles of gin - $65.00

      Something tell me that Wanda over in Accounting isn't goint to think that eight bottles of sauce looks quite so "great." ;)

      On the other hand, this may be the only case where conspicious consumption of alcohol is a justification for a promotion. "Gosh, boss, look at all these empty bottles! That's two more bottles than last week, don'cha think I deserve a raise?!?"

      Now if only someone would invent edible CDs...
    • Another way to say this (for all the alcoholic techs out there):

      "Finally I can integrate two of my handhelds..."
  • So that's why my display is so screwy - my laptop is drunk.....

  • How much safer? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by HaloZero ( 610207 ) <protodeka&gmail,com> on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @11:13AM (#5591022) Homepage
    One of the major infirmities with the previously concieved designs was that I couldn't put it in my laptop and then take it on a plane - a plane being a major place where I'd like to have an unlimited (refillable) battery supply, as most planes don't offer 120v outlets for AC adapters. If this can overcome the safety risks involved with that venture, I'm sold.

    On another note, what else can it do? :P
    • And you can get fuel off the drinks trolley!
      • Steward: 'What can I get for you, sir?'
        Me: 'Rum & Coke, unmixed. I want the coke, my machine wants the rum.'
        Steward: 'Sir, you're under 21.'
        Me: 'IT'S FOR THE COMPUTER, I SWEAR!'
    • NO!!!!!
      No alchohol based fuel cell is going to be banned based on the fuel source! The amount of fuel it will take to power your laptop even on the longest of flights is less than the lush sitting next to you will be drinking. Besides we allow Butane lighters which have a much more volatile fuel in them aboard and they are intentionally designed to ignite the contents. I really, really wish the Slashdot crowd would get it's collective arse out of their head on this one.
      • Yeah, but there are open container laws in a lot of other places. Maybe we can add overturning these laws to the geek legal agenda.
    • First of all, ethanol isn't banned on airplanes. Hell, they hand out free bottles of it on intrnational flights. (Hello, vodka!)

      Also, new planes will soon have power on all seats. The only reason that they don't is that they can currently get people to pay for business-class upgrades in order to get juice. All new 777's have individual LCD monitors for each seat in coach class, a couple years ago, you had to crane your neck in order to see the in-flight movie. It will take a while, but as soon as one airli

  • Buzz (Score:1, Funny)

    by YokuYakuYoukai ( 570645 )
    Now you might really get a buzz from licking a nine volt.

  • Wrong Dept. (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    This should've been from the one-for-you-one-for-me dept.

    Can't you just see stressed out managers popping out the battery, tossing down a shot, and plugging it back in?

  • This isn't news (Score:5, Funny)

    by the_other_one ( 178565 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @11:14AM (#5591032) Homepage

    Ethanol powered phones have been arround for decades.

    I have talked to God on the porcelin telephone many times.

  • i also run... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I also run off of Ethanol(everclear). I can only imagine the fun that would come out of this.... but seriously if these batteries were meant to be rechargeable how could this been done at all with current alcohol laws?

    "yes I'd like to buy some everclear for my 'er laptop" *hic

  • Cheaper? Only because of the war on drugs (Score:3, Insightful)

    by corebreech ( 469871 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @11:14AM (#5591041) Journal
    Let us grow hemp and use it to make methanol. Then methanol will be cheaper.

  • This makes perfect sense... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Fritz Benwalla ( 539483 ) <randomregs@@@gmail...com> on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @11:15AM (#5591047)

    "We have actually run our cells off vodka and gin."

    That's kept Liza Minelli running for close to sixty years, no reason it can't run my laptop for a few hours.

    -----

  • i know huge amount of amount of electricity is required to extract hydrogen. But this can be easily generated using Nuclear Power Plants - a very clean source of electricity.

    use hydrogen fuel cells in the cars, and you will take care of the pollution problem.

    • Re:use hydrogen fuel cells (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Nuclear Power Plants - a very clean source of electricity.
      As long as "clean" is redefined as "generates huge quantities of enormously dangerouas waste that we have no way to get rid of", you're right.

      Also, nuclear power is incredibly expensive.

      Other than that, good idea.
    • Nuclear plants may be clean in responsible hands. Unfortunately Corporations and Governments often seem to prove themselves rather less than responsible and careful. Too bad really. There would be no need for constrictive environmental laws if people (individuals, Corporations and Governments) would be conscientious in their actions.

      As for those batteries, I wonder what will be more efficient: My wood fired steam power plant (2kW, under construction) or farming some grain or plant that can be easily conver
    • i know huge amount of amount of electricity is required to extract hydrogen. But this can be easily generated using Nuclear Power Plants - a very clean source of electricity.

      use hydrogen fuel cells in the cars, and you will take care of the pollution problem.

      Actually, the best way of producing hydrogen isn't electrical. You catalyse a hydrocarbon into (usually) hydrogen and CO2. The CO2 production is very small and can be easily captured and recycled in processes that require CO2 as an input (eg photo

  • Biotech Ethanol (Score:4, Interesting)

    by airuck ( 300354 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @11:16AM (#5591054)

    Novozymes Biotech [novozymesbiotech.com] in Davis, California is selectively breeding better enzymes for converting the cellulose in corn by-products to fermentable sugars. Who knows, maybe some day Kansas will power your calls.

  • I don't care if they make batteries out of peanut butter. All I want to know is when do we get a wireless phone that only needs recharging once a month or less? Thanks, I'll take the answer off-line.

  • Bio-engineering (Score:5, Interesting)

    by panurge ( 573432 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @11:17AM (#5591061)
    It makes sense. The development of life actually demonstrates that carbon-chain based molecules are a good place to start when you want to do something. Until the twentieth century the main source of applied energy was animal movement, an incredibly complicated way of obtaining movement from the breakdown of sugars, starch and fat. Even now, most cars don't last as long as a horse, so clearly the longevity problem is soluble. It's just that we have only very recently been able to start using that kind of technology deliberately instead of finding it by accident.

    Now excuse me, my fuel cell needs a shot and then it wants to go to the bathroom.

    • Re:Bio-engineering (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Milo Fungus ( 232863 )

      The thing that keeps living systems living is that they have mechanisms in place to repair themselves. From what the article said, no self-regenerating systems are in place in the fuel cell. They're counting on the original build to last. Your horse lives so many years and walks so many miles because it can regenerate damaged muscles. Unless the fuel cell were equipped with the enzyme's gene and the machinery to translate the information in the gene into newly synthesized enzyme, this fuel cell will not

    • Until the twentieth century the main source of applied energy was animal movement,

      Well, so the solution to our laptop power problems is easy: get a hamster, a wheel, and a little generator. That biological generator runs on lettuce, food pellets, or, in a pinch, airline food (not recommended for long term power generation because it may damage the generator), and it produces mostly carbon dioxide and some (hopefully) solid waste.

  • Scientists Choose Ethanol (Score:3, Funny)

    by mattyohe ( 517995 ) <matt DOT yohe AT gmail DOT com> on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @11:19AM (#5591082)
    Evidently they prefer it over competing fuels. This seems like a bad move on NewScientist's part.

  • Customs (Score:2)

    by rf0 ( 159958 )
    Woo no longer do I need to say that I'm bringing booze back over the English Channel for my own personal consuption. I can just smuggle in laptops :)

    Rus

  • How about..... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Chris_Stankowitz ( 612232 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @11:25AM (#5591118)
    "Such batteries promise to be cheaper, safer and less toxic than previously demonstrated methanol based fuel cells."

    Ok, great, now how about Last Longer? Especially Laptop batteries, I can't seem to keep a charge on any of them. They all seem to degarde rather fast.

  • I wonder if people I meet in chatrooms will appear more witty and charming if my laptop is running "fully juiced up?"

  • A possible end to crop subsidies? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Bonker ( 243350 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @11:28AM (#5591144)
    Man, it would be really great if you could walk into a grocerie store and buy 'Ethanol Packets' next to the Duracells, Energizers, and Ray-o-Vacs.

    No, not to drink, you lushes. It would mean that there would be a new demand for vegetable crops, Corn in particular. While the DoA is one of the most corrupt branches of our government, one can't help but think that a new demand for corn in the form of a non-perishable liquid would cut the amount of money currently being used for subsidies.

    An ethanol economy is not quite as desirable as a hyrdrogen economy, but it can still be very good.
    • I don't know if creating a fuel dependency on vegtable crops is a good idea. I'd imagine it would be a lot easier for a terrorist to destroy crops than destroy oil fields.
      • You can always replant a vegetable. Let's see you replant oil reservers.

        Even if there's a bio-engineered virus that targets your specific species of corn, you can always switch to a different variety or even a different vegetable. Having a diverse plant population would not only make diseases or natural disasters less effective, it would also limit the effectiveness of terrorism.
      • It'd be like trying to attack the citizens of rural Montana. It's just too diffuse a target to be of interest, unless you mount a biological attack with some kind of (probably genetically engineered) disease or pest. If terrorists have the sophistication to pull such an attack off, we've all got bigger problems - for instance, where are we going to get, um, food, for which we are entirely dependent on vegetable crops?

        Worry about real threats, not super-terrorists hiding under the mattress.

    • While the DoA is one of the most corrupt branches of our government [...]

      Department of Agriculture? That's nothing.

      Do you REALLY want your laptop regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF)? (Maybe with a little assistance from the FBI and the National Guard?)

      I can see it now: Some kids are holding a LAN party. A sniper takes out the dogs in the yard. Then cattle cars full of ninja-suited jackbooted thugs pull up, blocking the view of the front door from the tipped-off press he
    • An ethanol economy is not quite as desirable as a hyrdrogen economy, but it can still be very good.
      I would imagine you could find at least a billion people who desire an ethanol economy over a hydrogen economy, and they seem to think it is very good.

      • Yeah, but an ethanol economy won't make my voice sound like Mickey Mouse (tm).

        Can you imagine singing the Munchkin song using hydrogen? You'd be calling dogs and dolphins for miles.

        obdef: Munchkin song: Song sang by the "Lollipop Guild" to Dorothy when she landed in Oz.

  • Cost (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Stripsurge ( 162174 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @11:31AM (#5591165) Homepage
    Yes, ethanol is cheap to make but expensive to buy. There'd have to some law changes to avoid having to pay the taxes associated with buying consumable alcohol. Using ethanol in the chem lab is pricy.

    • Re:Cost (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Avakado ( 520285 )

      There'd have to some law changes to avoid having to pay the taxes associated with buying consumable alcohol. Using ethanol in the chem lab is pricy.

      Maybe that's one of the reasons why spirits not meant for consumption have added stuff that makes you vomit if you drink it?

      • yes but methanol might well break down the enzymes (or more likely the enzymes will break down the methanol and its byproduct including formaldihyde will poison them). I would guess this is why they didn't just use cheaper methanol to start out.
      • Maybe that's one of the reasons why spirits not meant for consumption have added stuff that makes you vomit if you drink it?

        Actually, they usually use deadly poisons and not something that harmlessly makes you vomit.

  • social implications (Score:4, Interesting)

    by frovingslosh ( 582462 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @11:55AM (#5591360)
    So here is the next question: a denaturing agent destroys the fuel cell. The (US) tax on non-denatured methanol is so excessive that it prohibits the use of these fuel cells in laptops, not to mention much better uses of the fuel cells, like clean running cars (where even with a road tax the tax would be much lower). So the question is, do we change the law to support this new clean technology, or do we keep an aribratary tax that is both about raising excessive revenue as well as about telling people how to live their lives? And if we get rid of a tax on alcohol to permit these fuel cells, what other rediculous law can replace it to show people that big brother can run their lives better than they can? And can I get laptop methanol without paying a road tax on it? And do methanol and programming really mix?
    • I wonder how these things will play out by the time dubya gets done with Iraq and drilling Alaska...

      I am sure the media can always convince 70% of americans that not using oil would be unamerican.

      S
  • You know, if this keeps up, the logical conclusion is a hamster and a wheel, Flintstones style.

    Yabba Dabba Doo.

  • A glimpse of the Future(rama) (Score:3, Funny)

    by jakedata ( 585566 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @11:58AM (#5591376)
    Bender the robot uses Ethanol for power. A couple bottles of 'Old Fortran' kept him going for hours.

    Now if I could only run my cell phone off of cigarettes, we could re-purpose the entire vice industry. We all know how useful hemp is too...
  • How would you feel if you woke up one day and realized that your only purpose in life was to produce power for some higher life form's cell phone or pocket Pokemon? I know I'd demand to be free of that opression. And when that happens the entire world will shut down. It will be worse then Y2K.

    Let us instead look for a better cleaner form of power, like harnessing the energy contained in the sound of ripping velcro.

  • You Fools! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Gatton ( 17748 )
    Soylent Battery is made from people! It's PEOPLE!!! /PhilHartman

  • Drink your batteries, get the shits... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by iiioxx ( 610652 ) <iiioxx@gmail.com> on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @12:20PM (#5591541)
    All non-regulated (as in BATF) ethanol is required by law to be denatured. There are two types of denaturing: complete and specical. Complete adds 5% methanol, rendering the mixture toxic for human consumption. Special denaturing adds a non-toxic additive to render the alcohol undrinkable. This is often done by adding phenopthalein, which (aside from being a pH indicator) is a powerful laxative. Drinking it will cause "severe gastrointestinal distress". Most consumer applications (like rubbing alcohol) use special denaturing (so they don't kill stupid alcoholics).

    Just FYI for anyone thinking about using your laptop as a wetbar.
    • You'll get the shits after you go blind and die. Yeah.

      Phenopthalein doesn't instantly give you the shits. If you are a stupid alcoholic drinking rubbing alcohol, you'll likely go blind and probably die before you get the shits. After which, It's more of a insult that you shit yourself than a preventative measure.
      • You'll get the shits after you go blind and die. Yeah.

        Phenopthalein doesn't instantly give you the shits. If you are a stupid alcoholic drinking rubbing alcohol, you'll likely go blind and probably die before you get the shits. After which, It's more of a insult that you shit yourself than a preventative measure.

        1. Phenopthalein isn't poisonous. Until a few years ago, a lot of laxatives were phenopthalein-based, including Ex-Lax. The only reason it was dropped as an ingredient in laxatives was becau

  • ...coated the electrodes with a polymer that has specially tailored pores. These maintain a neutral pH, while being small enough to trap the enzymes yet big enough to let the alcohol pass through. "The enzymes have lasted over two months now and they are still functioning," she says.

    Not the power charge, but the enzymes? So here we have reached the point of being concerned over not just the charge, but the rapid breakdown of the fuel cell itself. And that's actually a good thing, so long as they keep

  • Futurama (Score:3, Funny)

    by SnuSnu ( 630537 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @12:37PM (#5591648) Homepage
    Stick one of these in a robot and voila: Bender!

  • New Biofuel Cell Runs on Vodka (Score:3, Informative)

    by rpiquepa ( 644694 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @12:39PM (#5591663) Homepage
    In fact, the article from the New Scientist needs to be completed by reading this press release [eurekalert.org] from the American Chemical Society. You also can read this article [boston.com] from Boston.com to get more information.
  • Such batteries promise to be cheaper, safer and less toxic than previously demonstrated methanol based fuel cells.
    Not to mention having an extra carbon atom per molecule... and the one thing we all know is: chicks dig carbon.
    (In fact, they seem to insist on getting a fairly costly form of it to agree to marry. ;)

  • methanol not that toxic (Score:3, Informative)

    by avandesande ( 143899 ) on Tuesday March 25, 2003 @01:24PM (#5591994) Journal
    Methanol is simply not that toxic. If you drink large quanities (ie, ounces), it causes a condition called acidosis, which leads to blindness and death (among other things). Trace amounts are easily eliminated from the body. If you don't drink it or bathe in it, you will be fine.
    • This [thrombosis-consult.com] article describes in detail methanol and ethylene glycol toxicity. People have died from drinking as little as 40ml of a 15% solution of methanol. Interesting thing about using methanol for denaturing ethanol: ethanol is actually listed as the antidote for methanol poisoning.
      • Ah, good old methanol. My friend from the lab that helped me wash those gels full of coomassie brilliant blue and get rid of the excess color. Must have inhaled grams of the stuff in the two years I worked with it. Still I don't recommend drinking it folks. All those blind russians got where they are from drinking badly distilled home-made liquor. That's why they put methanol in ethanol: the boiling points are so close enough (ethanol:78.3 C, methanol 65 C) to make homegrown separation by distillation diff
    • Alchol Dehydrogenase converts methonal to formaldahye which attachs the rod structure of the eye causing blindness. The treatment for methonal poisoning is large quantities of ethanol administered for days. The reason: alcohol dehydrogenase preferentially binds ethonal over methonal. By having a large quantity of ethonal arround, you inhibit the formaldahyde production. Methonal is than removed by the kidneys.

      Biochem 305 folks.

    • Yeah, but it'll save you from the Andromeda Strain!

      Sterno Rules!

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