IBM and Sanyo have unveiled a prototype methanol-powered fuel cell system for ThinkPad notebooks, which claims to provide up to 8 hours of additional battery life per cartridge. Unlike other fuel cell designs for laptops, Sanyo's prototype requires no hardware modification and works with existing ThinkPad batteries.

Sanyo's fuel cell will supplementing current functionality, rather than radically changing power design in portable computers. It connects to a ThinkPad like a docking station and includes an auxiliary bay for charging an additional battery.

"We do not focus simply on the 'wow factor' of fuel cells -- we see it as a powerful enabler that could support a wide variety of business applications," said Peter Hortensius, vice president of IBM's Personal Computing Division.

IBM says the fuel cell can be used to run intensive business applications, or multimedia and computation programs without draining a notebook's standard battery. The design team focused on usage within office docking stations and locations without traditional power sources.

"This is quite a new concept that utilizes both micro fuel cells and rechargeable batteries. This hybrid system could enable the user to efficiently operate IBM's ThinkPad notebooks for a longer time compared to systems with only a fuel cell while also providing the convenience of an AC cordless environment," said Mitsuru Homma, Group Executive of Sanyo's Power Solutions Group.