Crown Gets $1 Million Boost for Fuel Cell Research

The award to continue Crown’s investigation, modeling and testing of fuel cell-powered lift trucks is contingent on approval from the State Controlling Board.

Crown received its first grant from the Third Frontier program in March 2008. That money was used to study technical and commercial barriers to the application of fuel cells in lift trucks. Evaluation and testing of fuel cell applications in Crown lift trucks is conducted at the company’s 25,000-square foot, state-of-the-art fuel cell test center in Huber Heights, Ohio.

The State’s Third Frontier fuel cell program provides grants to support growth of Ohio’s fuel cell industry through collaborations that involve Ohio higher education institutions, nonprofit research organizations and Ohio companies.

In accepting the award, Eric Jensen, Crown’s manager of new technology research and development, said, “Our ongoing fuel cell research will continue to evaluate the use of alternative energies in the material handling industry so that our customers can realize business benefits, such as cost savings and increased productivity. We are grateful to receive this grant from the Third Frontier program and proud that Crownc ontinues to be recognized as a leader in the commercial application of fuel cell technology.”