GREENE – Chenango County’s largest employer, Raymond Corporation, is on the forefront of developing hydrogen fuel cell-powered lift-trucks and is the first company in New York to have an indoor fueling dispenser for the energy source.
At a press conference Thursday, state and local dignitaries, energy and power research scientists and the media packed into an area in corporate headquarters to hear the announcement. The room was equipped with webcast technology that broadcast the news simultaneously around the world. Afterward, Internet users were able to e-mail questions and receive live responses from Raymond’s executives.
Raymond, owned by Toyota Industries Corporation, is the leading North American manufacturer of lift-trucks. It employs nearly 1,000.
President James Malvaso explained that hydrogen fuel cells would increase productivity in warehouses by “significantly reducing” the time it takes to change the large batteries that currently power its materials handling trucks. There are about 100 fork-lifts in the average-sized warehouse and each has multiple batteries, some weighing up to 4,000 pounds.
Malvaso also said due to the density of fork-lift trucks, hydrogen fuel cell technology has been pulled into the marketplace by a user community that has become environmentally conscious.
“This is our contribution to this industry. There has hardly been a thing in your house that hasn’t been moved by a forklift machine. Taking care of the environment that we live in and eliminating hazardous waste is important to us. Fuel cells may be - and in fact is - the solution to environmental concerns in this industry,” he said.
During a two-year study of the new technology, Raymond became a living lab as it evaluated multiple fuel-cell suppliers in its trucks, including Nuvera of Cambridge, Mass.; Plug Power of Latham and Hydrogenics of Ontario, Canada.
“We wanted to make certain that we understood fuel cell technology better than anyone else,” Malvaso said.
“Our users will determine what hydrogen cell technology they want. We will offer all options available,” said Steve Medwin, Raymond’s manager of advanced research.
“Raymond is committed to helping the materials handling industry realize the higher productivity and environmentally clean technology that hydrogen fuel cells can offer. And we will continue to share the results of our research as it becomes available,” Medwin said.
The project was developed with a $750,000 contract from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the New York Power Authority. Raymond invested $550,000 into the study.
Gunnar Walmet, a program director with NYSERDA, said the contract with Raymond’s Corporation is the largest of about a dozen others currently studying alternative energy sources in the state. All are designed to meet Governor Spitzer’s goal to reduce electric usage in the state by 15 percent by 2015.
“We must break out of our over-dependence on fossil fuels. There is no single silver bullet. This is the first attempt at hydrogen fuel cell technology powered vehicles. ... It’s a new, green high-tech accomplishment for our state. It’s day of celebration.”
New York State Senator Thomas Libous and Assemblyman Clifford Crouch were on hand to congratulate the corporation. “I appreciate your sharing your experience and knowledge on this as we go forward with this new technology,” Crouch said.
Though the fueling station is inside the 500,000 square foot manufacturing facility, the company is not currently storing hydrogen in the building. Since May, hydrogen has been trucked from Buffalo to a hydrogen storage facility outdoors. Village of Greene Mayor Marcia Miller asked how often the hydrogen was delivered to the plant and how safe it was transport and dispense it. Malvaso said the company’s first concern was the safety of employees and the community. “That was the first part of our learning process,” he said.
Though fuel cell technology is initially more expensive than batteries, company executives say they will make up for it in increased productivity. The voltage from batteries drops at the end of shifts and it takes up to 20 minutes to change them. Fuel cells take from one to five minutes to recharge and have only water and heat as by-products.
Medwin said the technology is currently easier to implement in fork-lifts than automobiles because lift trucks require only one refueling dispenser per warehouse unlike cars that travel to multiple destinations. Also, Raymond’s forklifts incorporate electric engines rather than internal combustion engines
William W. Reinhardt, a senior project manager with NYSERDA, said he has been impressed with Raymond’s enthusiasm for the project. “The whole organization is totally engaged in understanding hydrogen. They want to get the job done. If anybody’s going to make it work, they are.”