PRESS RELEASES

POLYFUEL DELIVERS BREAKTHROUGH FUEL CELL MEMBRANE FOR PORTABLE FUEL CELL SYSTEMS
Innovative DMFC Membrane Bests Incumbent Hydrogen Membrane Technology; Delivers All-Day Power to Portable Electronic Devices

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – January 19, 2004 – PolyFuel, a leading provider of fuel cell membrane technology for portable electronic devices, today announced that it has released a breakthrough membrane specifically designed for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) applications. The PolyFuel DMFC membrane delivers substantial performance and system cost advantages over both traditional lithium ion batteries and existing fuel cell membrane technology. PolyFuel is currently supplying its DMFC membrane samples to the world's leading consumer electronics manufacturers and other developers of DMFC systems.

"Leading consumer electronics manufacturers have acknowledged that limited battery runtimes today restrict the functionality that can be built into portable devices such as laptop computers, tablet PCs, PDAs and mobile phones," said Jim Balcom, President and Chief Executive Officer of PolyFuel. "This problem will only get worse as wireless and other capabilities are added to these devices. The solution to this problem is the direct methanol fuel cell, a new approach to portable power. The PolyFuel DMFC membrane will enable the development of portable fuel cell power systems that will deliver unlimited, unplugged runtimes for consumers."

Today, more than 35 companies, including many of the world's leading consumer electronics manufacturers, have launched DMFC development programs. Several of these organizations have plans to deliver commercially available fuel cell systems in the next one to three years. Until recently, these DMFC programs have been hampered by the lack of a suitable membrane technology for the methanol fuel cell environment - the only membrane previously available to DMFC developers and consumer electronics manufacturers was a membrane developed more than four decades ago for use in hydrogen fuel cells. DMFC developers and most consumer electronics manufacturers agree that direct methanol fuel cells are the only solution for smaller form factor devices such as laptop computers, tablet PCs, PDAs and mobile phones and have acknowledged the need for a high-performance fuel cell membrane designed specifically for direct methanol fuel cells.

The PolyFuel DMFC membrane has the following features and advantages over existing membranes:

•  State of the art performance
•  Higher fuel efficiency
•  Lower methanol and water crossover
•  Stability in high levels of methanol concentration

•  Simpler and more robust
•  More efficient and able to run longer
•  Smaller, lighter, quieter and less expensive
•  Capable of being stored, started and operated in sub-freezing temperatures