Canon has announced that it is intending to develop fuel cells that will eventually be used in its products.

As the interest in small, mobile fuel cells continues, the Japanese firm has announced plans to develop fuel cells which can power its printers and cameras.

According to Reuters, the company is looking to keep up with rivals including Hitachi and Toshiba by using fuel cells to power a range of products.

The digital camera market is beginning to slow following years of fast growth and Canon is keen to invest in fuel cell technology in the belief that it could provide the next big thing in the market to drive growth forward.

Canon is approaching the development of fuel cells by looking at a system that supplies hydrogen directly from a cartridge. This differs to the majority of work in this area, which has focused on hydrogen being derived from methanol.

The fuel cell development is seen by the company as a major improvement on the efficiency and economy of current battery supplies, believing that it can deliver fuel cells which offer a longer life than traditional lithium-ion batteries.

As such, the company is working on delivering fuel cells that remain long-lasting but which can be sold in small packages, without bulky hydrogen chambers being required to power the products for a long period of time.


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