President Bush predicts that his grandkids will be part of the first generation that will learn to drive in fuel-cell vehicles, but society may not have to wait for First Twins Jenna and Barbara to settle down to family life before we’ll see some benefits from fuel cells. By the end of this decade, miniature fuel cells, or “minicells,” could be commonly used as an efficient and potentially eco-friendly power source for laptops, cell phones, and other electronic gadgets. “Every big electronics company in the world is working on fuel cells in one way or another,” said Jerry Hallmark of Motorola. While it’s tough to make fuel cells that can compete on a cost front with internal combustion engines, it may be far easier to design fuel cells that can best batteries. Toshiba could begin marketing a small fuel cell for laptops in Japan next year.
