That is apparently what a London-based fuel cell developer, Intelligent Energy, was thinking when it sought a key component right here in Albuquerque.

Intelligent Energy has acquired MesoFuel, which makes devices that provide the fuel, according to documents it filed pursuant to its application to trade on the London Stock Exchange.

Sherman McCorkle, of Technology Ventures Corp., which two years ago helped MesoFuel seek startup funding, confirmed this week that MesoFuel has been sold. He estimated the value of the sale, which was for an unspecified amount of cash and stock, to be in excess of $10 million.

"This is what all of us want to see happen," McCorkle said. "This is a great deal for the state."

Officials at MesoFuel, when contacted by the Journal, declined comment, citing securities issues pertaining to Intelligent Energy's proposal to go public.

Intelligent Energy spokesman Mike Dunkley, reached by telephone, said the firm could not comment for the same reason.

The sale is a milestone for MesoFuel, which since 2001 has quietly been working to overcome one of the most vexing problems of the so-called hydrogen economy -- how to reliably provide the hydrogen.

Put simply, hydrogen fuel cells work like a battery, in that a chemical reaction produces electricity. Because they emit no pollutant byproducts, hydrogen fuel cells have been widely touted as a potential alternative energy source that could eventually replace petroleum. President Bush last year pledged $1.2 billion for fuel cell research over the next five years.

Potential uses for the technology range from stationary power generators for homes and businesses to replacements for some batteries on consumer electronics, and, eventually, automobiles.

But, though hydrogen is widely referred to as the most abundant element in the universe, the processes for stripping hydrogen from the compounds in which it is typically found have lessened its potential usefulness as a fuel. Compounding that problem has been the issue of storing, shipping and distributing hydrogen.

MesoFuel CEO Ned Godshall, an accomplished entrepreneur and former Sandia National Laboratories scientist, has previously compared the fledgling industry to millions of cars driving around without any gas stations.

And that is where his company comes in. It has developed a tiny, highly efficient device that renders hydrogen from commonly available liquid and gas hydrocarbon fuels, even gasoline. Such a device, attached to a fuel cell, can create hydrogen right where it's needed.

Launched in 2001, Intelligent Energy makes fuel cells ranging from small 10-watt devices to large systems capable of generating 25 kilowatts of electricity.

Since its founding, the company has made several acquisitions in the United States and abroad, allowing it to offer a complete set of components that CEO Harry Bradbury told Fuel Cell Today magazine made the company a "complete energy solutions business."

Bradbury has said the firm plans to develop fuel cell technology, then license it to larger manufacturers.

"We are not setting ourselves up to manufacture," he recently told the Reuters news agency and several energy industry publications in a press release.

"We are collecting blue-chip partners to develop pre-production prototypes to embed our technology into their products. The playground for us is in the development space for the big blue chips that are in this sector."

Intelligent Energy recently applied to trade on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. It is expected that the firm will begin trading in June, and company officials have said it expects to raise more than 40 million pounds or about $71 million.

In the six months ended in March, the company reported revenues of 1.38 million pounds, or $1.65 million, according to Reuters. Intelligent Energy officials did not return calls and e-mails seeking comment.

Intelligent Energy employs about 70 people. MesoFuel employs 14.

McCorkle said MesoFuel is expected to remain in Albuquerque and will likely grow.

"We should see jobs added over the next year," he said.

MesoFuel spun out from Albuquerque air-sampling device developer MesoSystems.

At the time of its acquisition, it was in the middle of raising $4 million in venture capital. McCorkle said the firm had to date raised about $1.7 million from angel investors and Texas-based Murphree Venture Partners. "If I was one of those angels or Murphree, I'd be extremely happy," he said.

Tom Stephenson, a local representative for Murphree Venture Partners, would not comment on whether the firm had been purchased. He did confirm he had resigned from his board position with MesoFuel and that fund-raising efforts had ceased.

"We remain very excited about the prospects for MesoFuel's technology and opportunities," he said.

MesoFuel also recently received a $2 million grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology for further development of its hydrogen generator systems.

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