Very hopeful. The reformer notion being pursued by Ballard, et. al. works, but it's clumsy and inefficient.

However [comma] --

Nowhere in the article did it mention how much platinum, etc. they needed for a catalyst. Reformer cells would be practical-use items right now if they could reduce the amount of platinum needed. [Catalytic reactors in cars would never have flown if they hadn't been able to get the temperature up to where palladium was a workable catalyst. If they had to use platinum, the reactor would be half the price of the car! -- at least for the cheaper ones, Escorts etc.]

If they got this to work by essentially upping the platinum content...

*Bzzt* Next questioner please.

Yes, palladium is about the same price per unit.

But there's a lot more of it -- supply & demand, as so much goes into catalytic reactors.

If we were using platinum in those amounts, it would go back to where it was in the late Sixties: palladium roughly 1/10 the price of platinum. I.e., $4K for platinum...

Therefore they try hard to cut the amount used.