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The development of alkaline anion exchange membranes has spurred research into the electro-oxidation of small organic molecules in alkaline media in hope of development of alkaline direct liquid fuel cells. We discuss the role of palladium as an electro-catalyst for the oxidation of ethanol and formate in alkaline media. We find that formate oxidizes rather efficiently and with no strongly-bound intermediate on palladium. We demonstrate that formate can be used as a direct fuel in an alkaline direct formate fuel cell; we also show that it is possible to operate this cell using air or without KOH electrolyte.