Oorja whips methanol cell out of stealth mode

There’s something very appealing about the word stealth. Greenbang imagines Robin Hood, bow drawn, creeping up on a gold-coin-laden noble, ready to make off with the goods and re-distribute the cash to the poor and needy. Stealth is cloaks, daggers and listening around corners. In short, stealth is cool. If you’re about to leave your stealth state, in Greenbang’s mind, you better have a good reason.

Fuel cell maker Oorja Protonics has just stopped operating in stealth mode – it’s been wearing its stealth cloak since 2005 – and has revealed what it’s been working on since then: it’s a methanol fuel cell. According to Oorja, it’s got the drop on hydrogen fuel cells, like this:

Oorja’s direct methanol fuel cells are novel in that they eliminate the barriers associated with hydrogen fuel cell adoption, namely the high price of compressed hydrogen gas, lack of hydrogen supply infrastructure, and hydrogen’s inherent volatility as a fuel source. Methanol is a much better alternative to hydrogen fuel cells due to its low cost, ready availability, and greatly reduced volatility.

Oorja reckons its own fuel cells are 100 times more powerful than its methanol counterparts out in the market and they’re just the ticket for pallet loaders, tuggers, and automated guided vehicles. The devices have already been tested with Fortune 50 customers, says Oorja.