The companies Antig Technology and AVC Corp. will demonstrate a production-ready fuel cell for laptops next week at CeBIT in Hanover. Fuel cells are very attractive as an energy source for portable devices because they can store much more energy than batteries of the same size and weight. The new fuel cell runs on methanol and fits into the CD/DVD drive bay of a laptop. It weighs 1.7 kilograms and can deliver up to 45 watts of power. According to AVC, the cell can keep a laptop running for eight hours. Fuel cells for laptops have been on the drawing board for a long time and working test models have already been made, but series production has not yet come about. AVC says it already has contracts with unnamed Taiwanese manufacturers for production of the fuel cells in the second half of this year. Both companies did not indicate how much the fuel cell will cost and do not yet offer the possibility to refill the cells themselves.