You may not be getting it for your next birthday, but a notebook powered by an eco-friendly portable liquid fuel is getting closer to becoming a reality.

According to CNET, PolyFuel, a company that develops fuel cell membranes, stated on Wednesday that it has developed a prototype laptop--a Lenovo T40 ThinkPad--that uses methanol cartridges and a fuel cell as a power source.

The company has announced that it plans to demonstrate its product to consumer electronics and PC manufacturers in the coming weeks. The company, which was spun out of SRI International, currently has about 19 customers including NEC and Sanyo.

The current functioning prototype, which can be more readily categorized as a proof of concept rather than a finished product, powers the notebook via methanol cartridges about the size of a deck of cards. The unit uses a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) that converts methanol to electricity to run the laptop. A single cartridge can provide up to 10 hours of run time.

Per CEO Jim Balcom's description, the fuel cell power supply bulges out a bit more than the standard nine-cell battery on a Lenovo T40 notebook and also raises the top a bit.

Though not as attractive as current notebook batteries in this stage of development, replaceable methanol cartridges would let users go all day without needing to carry around an AC adapter.

Balcom said manufacturers estimate that these devices could fuel between 10 percent and 30 percent of laptops. Ten percent of laptops could be considered a niche market yet is still significant in size.

"We've never been on of the opinion that fuel cells are going to replace batteries wholesale. (Batteries) are great if you need a couple of hours," Balcom said.

He then added that initial commercialization of fuel cell consumer electronics in two to three years is feasible.

"It's not a question of if, it's a question of when" fuel cells are used in devices, he said. "It's difficult to predict because the science is so challenging."

Stay tuned for more information on this, including any word as to whether Apple may consider the technology in its future notebooks and let us know what you think over in the comments or forums.