Nuvera Fuel Cells

The results of a well-to-forks study, conducted by Argonne National Labs, were released last week at the Industrial Truck Association annual meeting.  A typical well-to-wheels analysis looks at the green house gas emissions of a vehicle from production of the fuel that runs the vehicle all the way to operating the actual unit.  This particular study was on lift trucks (hence the well-to-forks term, as in forklift), and compared three different operating modes:  fuel cell powered lift trucks using hydrogen generated on-site from natural gas, battery electric lift trucks recharged by the US average grid mix, and propane engine lift trucks.

The study concludes that fuel cell trucks produce 800 g/kWh of greenhouse gas emissions, while battery powered lift trucks produce 1300 g/kWh - 63% more than fuel cells. This is an increasingly important consideration in corporate America, as more and more companies look at the financial, environmental, and social impact of their carbon footprint. Not surprisingly, the study found that both fuel cell and battery powered trucks are significantly cleaner than ICE trucks operating on propane.

By Gus Block, Director of Marketing
Nuvera Fuel Cells

The Annual Meeting of the Industrial Truck Association (ITA) was held in Scottsdale, Arizona from October 2 through 5. ITA is a trade association representing lift truck manufacturers and their suppliers in North America. In 2004, Nuvera was the first fuel cell company to join ITA, which shortly thereafter established the Fuel Cell Working Group to address technical, legal, and regulatory issues associated with the use of fuel cells on lift trucks. One of the first actions of the Working Group was to compile a white paper, entitled, “Fuel Cell Technology for Industrial Truck Applications.”

Since that time, fuel cells have captured an increasing share of the ITA’s attention and agenda. The activities of the original Fuel Cell Working Group have continued under a newly established Energy Storage Systems Subcommittee, which is drafting a Recommended Practice (RP) covering the use of lead acid battery ‘emulators’ such as fuel cells on electric lift trucks. The new RP will pave the way for the adoption of fuel cell technology by providing specific guidelines for truck manufacturers. Over the next 2 years, the RP will likely become the basis of amendments to the major codes and standards affecting lift truck operation and safety published by Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL), the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA), and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

John Christensen, formerly of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, addressed the ITA regarding the DOE Hydrogen Program’s Early Market Transformation Activities. He noted that DOE sees material handling and backup power as the two primary applications where fuel cells offer a viable value proposition for customers TODAY. Ultimately, DOE’s interest is to spur the adoption of fuel cells in these ‘early markets’ in order to stimulate production volumes, and ultimately reduce the cost to the point where fuel cells are viable for widespread use in automobiles.

By Bill Mitchell, VP of Marketing
Nuvera Fuel Cells

This past Tuesday, I had the opportunity to take part in a Massachusetts Hydrogen Association Clean Energy Forum entitled “Creating a Clean Transportation Future”. Along with me on the panel were Stephen Costa of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and Sheila Lynch of the Northeast Advanced Vehicle Consortium.

About 50 people were in attendance for the discussions. Maybe it was a result of our high gas prices, or our economic troubles (or both), but based on the feedback from the audience, there was lot of interest in how we could most effectively and expeditiously transition ourselves off of imported oil and towards a form of transportation that is more sustainable, that also keeps money inside the U.S. (rather than flowing to other areas of the world).

My presentation dealt mostly with the identification of early markets that are not only interesting as markets unto themselves, but that can also act as a catalyst to accelerate the introduction of clean transportation. Because Nuvera is a fuel cell company, as one can imagine, I kept my comments in the area of fuel cell vehicles. The basis hypothesis of my talk was as follows: I believe that not only is the fuel cell forklift market interesting from a business standpoint, but this is also an early market that can accelerate the adoption of fuel cell cars.

To make the case for my hypothesis, consider the following. As shown in the graph below, a typical forklift drive cycle is very similar to an urban drive cycle that a fuel cell car would encounter. Because of this similarity, the fuel cell technology and system design between the forklift and the car will, by necessity, be similar (the car having more power, of course).

In a given year, a fuel cell forklift will operate for approximately 5,800 hours. If these hours are integrated into an automotive drive cycle, a year of forklift operation effectively simulates approximately 125,000 miles of driving. In this sense, you can consider the forklift operation as an accelerated durability test for a fuel cell car. During this year of operation, the forklift will need to be refilled about 700 times, and it will consume about 1000 kg of hydrogen.

Get a few thousand fuel cell forklifts in operation and the numbers start to add up. Very quickly you will have a lot of field data that can be directly translated to the automotive fuel cell market. Before the first fuel cell car ever “hits the streets” we could have millions of equivalent miles of data and operation in the forklift market. Further, the hydrogen dispensing experience would directly translate so that by the time fuel cell cars come about, the hydrogen dispensers will have been in operation for several years, performing hundreds of thousands of successful refueling events.

Early market applications like the fuel cell forklift market will help develop the technology and supply chain required for successful fuel cell cars, and educate customers to the advantages of fuel cells and hydrogen. Without a doubt, this will help accelerate the future of clean transportation.

Overall, the audience agreed with my hypothesis. What do you think?