Mass adoption of notebook-use direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) systems may start in 2010-2011, said Kamal Shah, mobility enabling initiative manager of Intel"s mobile platforms group, on the sidelines of the Taiwan International Small Fuel Cell Application Technical Forum organized by design and engineering startup Antig Technology and its supporters this week in Taipei. Shah, who is also the chairman of the Mobile PC Extended Battery Life (EBL) Working Group formed to develop power-management and power-saving guidelines for notebook components and subsystems, was one of those at the event taking a cautious position regarding rapid commercialization of DMFC technology.
Shah said the timeframe mentioned is a realistic suggestion based on the assumption that the coming years would be spent addressing the many challenges that DMFC developers and solution providers currently face. He characterized the roadmap that Antig revealed at the forum as "a little bit aggressive" but complimented the company for creating a working group of Taiwan-based companies collaborating on DMFC technology. The working group was established in September 2005, and it currently has 23 members, according to Antig. However, so far most of the members have not publicly revealed the fact that they are participating in DMFC technology development.