Fuel Cells Experience Gains In All Industries

With more and more companies in just about every industry committing to a cleaner environment policy, sales of fuel cells show a major jump in 2016, according to a new report from the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association (FCHEA).

Hydrogen Fuel Cells.
(Courtesy: U.S. Dept. of Energy at flickr.com)

According to the report, titled The Business Case for Fuel Cells 2016, The reason for the jump is that more companies are recognizing the benefits of using fuel cells that include clean, reliable, on-demand power generation; fuel flexibility with the ability to use pure hydrogen, natural gas or renewable biogas; silent operation; and scalability. This makes fuel cells ideal for a range of applications.

Fuel cell sales increases have been reported in such industries as stationary and backup power and material handling due to value in improved operational efficiency and cost savings.

The report publishes a massive list of companies in a variety of industries including retail; grocers, food, and logistics; industrial and consumer products; technology and telecommunications; financial services; real estate; healthcare and biotechnology, entertainment and sports; hotels; transportation; and utilities.

fuel cells offers electricity using an electrochemical reaction, not combustion, and, depending on the fuel source, produces zero or near-zero polluting emissions. Fuel cells offer a unique combination of proven benefits that make them ideally suited for a number of applications.

For example, benefits identified for the material handling industry include:

· Zero emissions
· Long runtime
· Minutes to refuel
· Constant power
· Cold storage operation
· Eliminates need for battery charging rooms
· Increased worker productivity
· Lower operational costs.

Moreover, there is a wide range of benefits for stationary applications as well including:

· Primary or backup power source
· Operates in tandem or independent of electric grid
· High efficiency
· Low to zero emissions
· Fuel flexible as a conventional or renewable fuels
· Rugged and quiet
· Operates in water balance
· Modular and scalable

Companies that have made more of a commitment to fuel cells include:

· Home Depot
· Ikea
· Walmart
· Stop & Shop
· CVS
· Macy’s
· Staples
· Target
· URBN (urban Outfitters)
· Williams-Sonoma
· Ace Hardware
· Americold
· Coca-Cola
· FreezPak Logistics
· Kellogg Company
· Newark Farmer’s Market
· Pacific Cheese
· Pepperidge Farm
· Price Chopper
· Ramar Foods
· Safeway
· Sierra Nevada Brewery
· Stone Edge Farm
· Sutter Home Winery
· The Wonderful Company
· Kroger
· Sysco
· Taylor Farms
· Wegmans
· WinCo Foods’
· Whole Foods
· Baker Hughes
· Bridgestone-Firestone
· Maxim Integrated
· Owens Corning
· Taylor Made-Adidas Golf Company
· Aeroject Rocketdyne
· Amgraph Packaging
· Carter’s
· Kimberly-Clark
· LeGrand North America
· Pratt & Whitney
· Procter & Gamble
· SC Johnson
· Stihl
· Uline
· Adobe
· Apple
· AT&T
· CenturyLink
· Comcast
· Cox Communications
· eBay
· Equinix
· Google
· Intuit
· Juniper Networks
· Nokia Siemens
· Southern LINC
· Sprint
· Time Warner Cable
· Verizon
· Xillinx
· Yahoo
· Fujitsu America
· Motorola
· NTT America
· Ponderosa
· T-Mobile
· Windstream Communications
· Bank of America
· Franklin Templeton
· JPMorgan Chase
· Morgan Stanley
· Becker + Becker
· Hines/LPL Financial
· JMB Realty/Constellation Place
· The Ratkovich Co./The Alhambra
· Becton, Dickinson & Company
· Johnson & Johnson
· Life Technologies
· Medtronic
· Pfizer
· Roche Molecular Diagnostics
· Kaiser Permanente
· St. Helena Hospital
· Sutter Health/Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital
· Veterans Administration Hospital
· Hartford Hospital
· University of California Irvine Medical Center
· Beacon Capital Partners/New Corp.
· CBS Studios
· Disney Pixar
· DreamWorks Animation
· Honda Center
· NBCUniversal
· AEG/Staples Center
· Hyatt Hotels
· BMW
· FedEx
· Volkswagen
· BNSF Railroad
· CSX
· Mercedes-Benz U.S. International
· Union Pacific Railroad
· U.S. Postal Service
· United Parcel Service
· Avangrid
· Pacific Gas & Electric
· Washington Gas
· Con Edison
· Delmarva Power
· Dominion Power
· Exelon
· Southern California Edison
· Southern Company