No question, Protonex is having a good April. They have just won a $3.6m order from the US Army for its Pulse M250 portable fuel cells, just two weeks after landing a $1.6m deal to develop fuel cells for the US Navy's UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). Fuel Cells have been for almost everyone, a huge disappointment. What is fascinating is how keen the US Military is to deploy them. This is one of the rare and not fully appreciated success stories for fuel cells in recent times and I would venture, in the years to come.

Soldiers - especially infantrymen - are increasingly carrying a lot of electronic kit with them and they need power. These gadgets might include Night Vision Goggles, laptops, radios, mobile phones (for backup),  micro and small UAVs, laser target designators, telescopic sights etc.

There is however only so much weight an infantryman can carry in the field. Hence the demand for portable fuel cells which have a higher energy density per kilo - around 350 watts - than batteries. The nature of warfare - particularly the low intensity, discretely kinetic kind to win hearts and minds like in Iraq and Afghanistan - is shifting the application of force from the huge weapons platforms of the past to the grunt on the ground. It's much easier and cheaper to launch a portable UAV to look over the hill than request air recon from a jet or helicopter.

Certainly, fuel cells have come in for some stick for being so expensive. But the costs are calculated very differently when it comes to saving or even taking lives compared to an extended run time on your ipod.