DME as forklift fuel?

BLUEFUELENERGY.COM: Although forklifts may not figure prominently in most discussions about alternative fuels, two recent news items suggest they are not being ignored either.

The first story is related to the recent announcement by the US Department of Energy that funding for fuel cell R&D was being reduced. As reported in Hybrid Cars and other blogs and print publications, Energy Secretary Stephen Chu has proposed slashing the Energy Department’s hydrogen program funding by almost 60%, or more than $100 million, with most of the cuts occurring in the transportation sector.

At the same times as these mainstream transportation cuts are to occur, however, Secretary Chu has pledged almost $42 million as part of President Obama’s American and Reinvestment Act to fund 13 projects which will deploy nearly 1,000 fuel cell systems, mainly for forklifts, because: "these key early markets [are ones] in which fuel cells can compete with conventional power technologies.”

The second story comes from the Modern Materials Handling website where Tom Andel reports that: "we shouldn’t be surprised to see a propane/DME blend starting to be used in forklifts.” With propane already being used extensively as a forklift power source, the blend transition seems a natural one and could help reduce the carbon footprint in a wide range of industries since forklifts are such common vehicles in warehouses and loading docks all over the world. Blue Fuel could naturally improve this footprint even more.

Besides that fact that Blue Fuel could quickly enhance environmental performance in factories where propane-powered forklifts are used, the other idea to take away from the stories above is that Blue Fuel has a wide range of applications with some of them – forklifts, for example – not immediately obvious, but nonetheless important.