GREENE – The Raymond Corporation is taking a hands-on role in an effort to launch an energy technology that could change the world. In 2007, the company applied a grant from NYSERDA to put a fueling station for hydrogen fuel cells on the ground floor of its main building in Greene, after which they began producing fuel cell capable forklifts. Since then, Raymond has been contracted by over a dozen companies to produce fuel cell capable machines.

Experimentation with hydrogen fuel cells dates back to the early half of the 19th Century, but only recently has the movement to produce fuel cell capable cars begun to gather real steam. Hydrogen fuel cells are batteries that utilize hydrogen and water to produce heat. Hydrogen and water interact within the fuel cell to produce a chemical reaction that emits heat energy and clean drinkable water, making it a safe and green energy source. At the moment due to the difficulties producing and transporting the light weight molecule h2, the price of fuel cell produced energy is higher than energy produced by burning fossil fuels. With inevitable rise in the price of fossil fuel and technological advancements, the disparity in the cost effectiveness between the two energy sources will not last for much longer.

Even though currently the price of energy from fuel cells is high, they are still potentially more cost effective than alternative energy sources, and companies can still see a return on their investment if they use fuel cells in bulk. Due to hydrogen fuel cells’ zero emissions, they are ideal for closed space work environments, such as factories. Coupled with the low cost of producing forklifts, compared to the production cost of cars, Raymond is ideally positioned to act as a proving ground for this technology.