Polyfuel revealed today that its new, ultra-thin membrane delivers over 40% more power than any fuel cell membrane previously available.

I've never seen micro fuel cell performance measured this way. I always thought the benchmark was how many watt hours can it deliver per kilo?

Hitherto, I understood the going rate was about 200 watt hours compared to 350 for lithium ion batteries and to put it all in perspective - 12 to 13,000 for petrol / gas.

Anyway, my point is this;

When are micro fuel cells going to hit the shops and will consumers like them?

There do seem to have been a lot of false dawns on this and I've yet to convinced of the market case. Throwaway batteries may be expensive but people still buy them. Rechargeable lithium ion seem to work ok because no one is ever that far from a power point. And most of all, liquids are now viewed with extreme suspicion by security guards, particularly at airport terminals . . .

Are micro fuelcells a solution in search of a problem?