The hunt for alternative energy sources is on for few decades now and, even after trying several sources, none has come even close to completely replace the fossil fuels currently used. One of the technologies used is to fuel the small electronic gadgets through PEM (Polymer Electrolyte Membrane) cells, which basically uses combination of hydrogen and oxygen, two of the most abundantly available elements on earth, to generate the energy. Since its advent in 1960, the PEM technology is heralded as one of the most promising and eco friendly source of energy. But since then, it has not moved forward from powering some small electronic gadgets. Solar energy comes first in the race whenever one talks of alternate sources of energy mostly due to its unlimited and easy availability. Renewing it is not much difficult as one has to just spot the sunlight. Whereas in PEM Fuel cell, whenever it comes to renewing it the input exceeds the given output and hence it is not a perpetual source of energy. Though hydrogen and oxygen are the two most widely available elements on earth, they are not available like, say petroleum, which one can drill out of earth. Both have to be separated from distilled water through a complex process which makes the cost of input exceed the value of energy received through it. Here we see a PEM Cell (in the green) powering an MP3 Player with the help of water electrolyte, which separates pure hydrogen and oxygen from distilled water when needed. The below video shows how it works.
Via: Treehugger
