Fuel cell developers have come out of the traps running in 2006. In the past month, there have been big jumps in the share prices of fuel cell companies in the US, UK and Italy.

That has largely been due to rising speculation that fuel cells, developed at vast expense for the US space programme, might at last be nearing commercialisation. Stubbornly high conventional energy prices have not hurt as investors look for an alternative to fossil fuels.