Vancouver 2009: fuel cell forklift looks pretty happy

There's something kind of lighthearted about a giant, lightweight green quote bubble being held aloft by a little blue fork lift. Of course, the Ballard fuel cell forklift wasn't on display here at the Hydrogen + Fuel Cells 2009 in Vancouver purely to amuse. Nope, forklifts are sort of the canaries of the fuel cell industry, leading the way in warehouses around the world (see here and here for just two examples), and their leadership is being honored at the conference. As you can see, the highlight of the forklift's speech is the H₂i logo, something seen all around the conference here. The small print reads:

I'm powered by hydrogen. My fuel cell gives me more up time than a battery forklift and delivers consistent power. Productivity up, emissions down.

The H₂i campaign is run by the Canadian Hydrogen Highway project. On the forklift front, the project has worked with Wal-Mart, Central Grocers and Nissan to test the fuel cell vehicles. There are more details available here.

Our travel and lodging for this event were paid for by the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association.