Tom Raftery's Musings

I read an interesting article the other day about a new type of laptop battery which should be able to go 30 years between re-charges!

The batteries

are constructed from semiconductors and use radioisotopes as the energy source. As the radioactive material decays it emits beta particles that transform into electric power capable of fueling an electrical device like a laptop for years.

Of course, the useful lifetime of a laptop is only 3 years or so before it becomes obsolete so if these batteries do come to market, you would need to be able to remove them and add them to your newest laptop.

The batteries

can be quite small and thin, a porous silicon material is used to collect the hydrogen isotope tritium which is generated in the process. The reaction is non-thermal which means laptops and other small devices like mobile phones will run much cooler than with traditional lithium-ion power batteries.

Fantastic, no more laptop burn then!

And

The best part about these cells are when they eventually run out of power they are totally inert and non-toxic

According to the article, the batteries are dur to be delivered to shops in the next 2-3 years. There is no mention of a price point though – never a good sign!

UPDATE – post edited to add title (d’oh!) – Thanks Simon