The long, wandering path of fuel cell commercialization has recently been given new direction.  Forklifts represent the new beacon of hope for the beleaguered fuel cell industry, and excitement is in the air again.  Lately, when discussing fuel cell markets, noting the materials handling industry as the means to mass commercialization not only sparks interest, yet finds few naysayers.  Why is that?

One does not have to look very far into the fuel cell and hydrogen economy’s storied past.  Ballard’s 2001 launch of the “world’s first volume produced PEM fuel cell system,” proved to be the beginning of the materials handling allure, as the Vancouver-based company set its eyes on the industry.  But this alone was not enough to jumpstart fuel cell commercialization.  Fuel cells needed government infrastructure – funding and policy – to be broadly realized.  In 2002, executives from Daimler Chrysler Corporation, Ford, and GM announced a partnership between the U.S. Council for Automotive Research (USCAR) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).  Dubbed the FreedomCAR & Fuel Partnership, this foreshadowed Detroit’s fuel cell and hydrogen ambitions – and the resulting interest in materials handling applications. 

Closely following on the heels of the FreedomCAR  announcement was the now infamous 2003 State of the Union Address, when George W. Bush announced the $1.2 billion hydrogen fuel initiative, that would see the “first car of a child born today… powered by hydrogen.”  This shift towards a U.S. fueled by hydrogen and run on fuel cells resulted in numerous white papers being written and RFIs released, focusing on automotive and pre-automotive markets.  Private industry and government were both trying to discover a fuel cell application to lower production costs, and in 2006, while the DOE was working on the development of PEM fuel cell vehicles, they commissioned Battelle to conduct research and report on pre-automotive markets.  A major highlight of the report was the near term market opportunity for forklift applications. 

Fast-forward to the Obama Administration, and the $41.9 million Secretary Chu announced for the fuel cell industry by way of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  In this round of grants, five out of the 13 went to the materials handling market in some form or another, adding up to $10.8 million, with the largest of that group, $6.1 million going to GENCO (6 awards for different distribution centers).  Also, Sysco was awarded $1.2 million for 90 fuel cell systems to replace batteries; the first ever green field installation in the world without battery infrastructure for a pallet truck fleet.  While the political climate had changed, the attraction to the materials handling industry had not.

With all the buzz, and companies such as Ballard, Hydrogenics, and Plug Power setting their sights on the pallet trucks, counterbalance rider trucks, and narrow-aisle reach trucks of the world (part of the $93.9 billion global materials handling industry) one must not lose sight of the beginnings of the forklift frenzy.  In an industry reaching $104 billion by 2010, and consisting of much more than forklifts, the fuel cell and hydrogen economy should be looking to provide systems for the conveying equipment, hoists, cranes and monorails, and automated storage and retrieval systems as well. 

As the most desired applications for fuel cells may be shifting away from the automotive sector, it is important to understand the initial push for forklift applications as strictly pre-automotive.  There are a limited number of forklifts in the world, and while undoubtedly helping advance the technology, it is unlikely they – or the whole of materials handling – will lift fuel cells to the height of mass commercialization.