The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) yesterday unveiled new types of hydrogen-powered battery chargers for cellphones that their inventor said would set a new trend in battery use across the world.
Speaking at a news conference marking the release of the energy-effective new devices, Yeh Hui-ching (葉惠青), director of the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Bureau of Energy, announced the arrival of a new era of hydrogen energy and gave the government’s full endorsement to the local hydrogen fuel cell sector.
“The government hopes to position itself in the global green energy industry’s production chain with hydrogen fuel cell technology and will seek to develop expertise in the sector by 2012 and begin commercial production as soon as possible,” Yeh said.
PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
One eye-catching item among the newly created devices displayed at the news conference was an electricity ball, which is capable of releasing hydrogen after charging water into it.
The hydrogen-powered device can serve as a battery charger for cellphones.
The electricity ball can be fully charged with hydrogen power in only two hours, allowing cellphones to get electricity unplugged, said Shueh Chan-li (薛展立), a researcher at the ITRI’s Energy and Environment Research Laboratories.
Shueh said the institute has led other countries in using hydrogen power to develop battery chargers for cellphones.
He said the hydrogen-powered electricity ball could be popularized after mass production brings down costs.
At present, a fuel battery charger costs NT$500.
Two other new types of hydrogen-powered batteries were also on display.
One allows electric cars to go faster than 80kph, while the other can serve as a commercial uninterrupted power supply.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods