Lilliputian's engineering miracle was in designing a tiny solid-oxide fuelcell that instead of melting everything in its vicinity is merely warm to the touch.
On the contrary, start-up companies like Westwood, MA-based Acumentrics are similarly pursuing a solid-oxide fuelcell technology tailored to the needs of the military.
The Tennessee Valley Authority (nyse: TVC - news - people ), a big Chattanooga employer, is taking the output from the 5-kilowatt solid oxidefuelcell that the center is experimenting with.
Bethesda, Maryland, is developing solid oxidefuelcell generators that will replace reliance on traditional battlefield power solutions and potentially reduce the fuel required for tactical generation of electric power by half or more.
Frankly, I believe that solid oxidefuel cells are the better technology in the long run, but FuelCell Energy owns 43% of the shares of VERSA Power that also makes solid oxidefuel cells.