HP debuts green batteries

Boston Power debuted its Sonata battery technology in 2007, as a safer, more efficient alternative to standard lithium ion batteries. Boston Power promises Sonata batteries can charge 80% in 30 minutes, and have an average lifespan of three years.

Hewlett Packard took an early interest in the startup, and late last year officially announced that it had adopted Boston Power's technology for its own line of notebook batteries.

This week, HP debuted the batteries which have been built upon Boston Power's patent-pending Sonata technology, called the Enviro series. They and can be dropped into 15 different HP notebooks (Pavilion dv4, dv5, and dv6, HDX 16, G50, G60, G61, G70, G71, and Compaq Presario CQ40, CQ45, CQ50, CQ60, CQ61, CQ70, and CQ71,) and are being marketed as the industry's first sustainable laptop batteries. Boston Power's cell technology has received Nordic Ecolabel certification, and certification by the Chinese Environmental Protection Agency.

To receive a Nordic Ecolabel for sustainable batteries, they must use no PVC in their packaging, and must contain less than 0.1 part per million of mercury, less than 1 part per million of cadmium, and less than 10 parts per million of lead. All batteries with the label must achieve a minimum service time depending upon their intended application.

But that sustainability comes at a premium price. A replacement battery for the HP Pavilion DV5, for example, can cost anywhere from $85 to $130. The HP Enviro carries an MSRP of $149.99.