Fuel Cells arriving soon?

http://www.news.com/At-MTI-Micro%2C-pushing-fuel-cells-for-portables/2100-13840_3-6236716.html

What are fuel cells and what does their introduction mean to conventional batteries? Try and figure this out for yourself. What is their environmental impact?

Fuel cells have been around for a while, in uses including space exploration. However, it is only recently that it has become possible to consider small, inexpensive units for portable devices.

While very different in terms of technology, both forms of energy conversion share basic principles inherent in the chemical effects of electric current, which are covered in Chapter 14 of your textbook. Chapter 11 of Insight also deals with Electrical Cells, as well as practical aspects of household electricity.