The small-scale fuel cell gadget chargers that have been talked-up for a couple of years are now finally hitting the consumer market. The Medis Fuel Cell chargers look like they could be a fun, renewable way to power small devices and handheld electronic toys for the green gadget owner.

Made without environmentally-harmful materials like batteries that use heavy metals for energy storage, the direct liquid fuel cell technology used in this device is supposedly green. It’s free of mercury, lead, cadmium, chromium, and other heavy metals and is made with non-ozone-depleting solvents.

The Medis Fuel Cell chargers provide instant-power much like batteries, so you don’t have to wait like you would with a solar charger for the cells to soak up energy. It will power all kinds of small devices, including cell phones, handhelds, radios, and more and comes with hook-ups for standard USB, mini USB, micro USB, Nokia tip, and Palm Treo connectors.

Its other green credentials include PVC-packaging (it’s wrapped in recyclable PET plastic packaging) and RoHS Compliance to meet the touch European environmental standards.

Unfortunately, it’s not all eco-friendly with this particular power-up device because of a couple of environmental downsides. Apparently, it is disposable so has a limited power capacity and will eventually run out of juice. The entire thing needs to be disposed of once it’s spent, including all of those tips and plugs, most of which you likely won’t ever use. But the concept is very interesting! It seems that a longer-life portable solar charger would be a better investment.