William Gallagher, AppleInsider, quoting this Apple patent:

“Hydrogen fuel cells have a number of advantages,” says Apple. “Such fuel cells and associated fuels can potentially achieve high volumetric and gravimetric energy densities, which can potentially enable continued operation of portable electronic devices for days or even weeks without refueling.”

You know there has to be a ‘but’ or we’d already be using these cells. “[But] it is extremely challenging to design hydrogen fuel cell systems which are sufficiently portable and cost-effective to be used with portable electronic devices,” explains Apple.

That’s what this patent is meant to solve. It’s about “the design of a portable and cost-effective fuel cell system for a portable computing device,” which converts fuel — such as hydrogen-based — into electrical power.

My original reaction to reading this AppleInsider headline was to laugh. After all hydrogen is extremely flammable and not trivial to convert (both from water to hydrogen, and from hydrogen to electricity). But mostly the flammable part.

But thinking about the flammable part, is hydrogen any more dangerous than lithium-ion batteries, which have been known to explode and cause fires?

One positive thing here is the almost limitless supply of hydrogen, constantly renewed. Can Apple figure this one out?