BY MARK B. SOLOMON, SENIOR EDITOR
FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGY
technologyreview
The stars may be aligning for a shift to
hydrogen fuel cells to power the nation’s
lift trucks. Will industry buy off on it?
“cell-ing” the
transition
IN THE PROCESS-DRIVEN WORLD OF MATERIAL HANDLING, WHERE NEW IDEAS
are often refinements of innovations that came before, few events qualify as “
game-chang-ers.” But at a facility in Joliet, Ill., 40 miles southwest of Chicago, something is happening
that just might measure up to the billing.
There, Central Grocers Inc., a food supplier co-operative serving Chicago and parts of
Indiana, will be operating what is believed to be the nation’s first distribution center whose
entire lift-truck fleet—220 vehicles—is powered by hydrogen fuel cell technology. As of
April 5, 140 order-picking trucks were running on fuel cells. The remaining 80 trucks will
transition later this year or in early 2010. The company expects to save about $750,000 over
five years, largely through productivity enhancements, says John Coari, vice president of
operations for Central Grocers (see “green grocer,” DC VELOCITY, May 2009, for more on
Central Grocers’ fuel cell program).
PHOTO COURTESY OF TOYOTA MATERIAL HANDLING, U.S.A., INC.
Yet as Central Grocers moves aggressively into the world of alternative energy, it is also
hedging its bets. It does not own the fuel cells; instead, it leases the cells, the equipment, and
maintenance services from Plug Power Inc., one of a handful of fuel cell manufacturers. It
pays Plug Power a usage fee for the hydrogen. Plug Power, not Central Grocers, arranges for
the shipping of hydrogen to the Central Grocers site. Central Grocers has an exit clause in
its contract should the technology fail to meet its expectations. And since it already owns
batteries and chargers, it can fall back on the old-fangled power source if need be.
The project, whose progress is being closely watched by the material handling/supply
chain world, epitomizes the industry’s current perception of fuel cell technology: The
potential is there, but so is the reality of significant upfront and ongoing expenses. For
warehouse operators with relatively small lift-truck fleets and which run mostly single
shifts, fuel cells may not even be worth considering.
Then there is the natural reluctance to be perceived as a guinea pig. “No one wants to be
the first penguin in the water,” says Bill Ryan, vice president and general manager of the
material handling division of LiftOne, a multiline lift-truck distributor.
