Power and glory: forklifts, warehouses and the latest sustainability

Latest solutions for socially responsible lift truck and logistics operations

EU and UK measures to reduce carbon emissions and boost sustainability across all aspects of society and economies are intensifying. Together with rising demand for key raw materials such as lithium, they are placing ever-greater responsibility on the materials handling and logistics industries to build, operate and manage activities as sustainably as possible. Companies must respond, both to avoid legislative and financial penalties and to demonstrate ‘good corporate citizenship’. Ruari McCallion reports.

(Summary)

Energy consumption and environmental impacts

Building a warehouse costs a lot of money and it’s only done once, so it’s worth taking the time to make the result of that major investment as right as possible.

There are multiple opportunities to bear down on energy usage, to reduce consumption of raw materials, to extend equipment life and, as a result, save money, boost competitiveness and profitability and avoid legal penalties.

It’s worth reminding ourselves even of simple things that can be done to achieve this.

Low-carbon logistics operations

There can be no excuse for failure to plan routes effectively, for optimised balance of time in transit and fuel consumption.

Inventory with a longer lead time can still be sent by rail or even by waterways, which both reduce carbon intensity.

Warehouse operations: get smart

Effective management can have immediate, noticeable and ongoing impacts. It can be a continuous improvement area in its own right.

Smart energy systems such as movement-sensitive lighting and HVAC that recovers heat from human activity and machine outputs – humble laptops as well as forklift trucks – can cut costs quite dramatically. Schneider Electric’s Paris HQ runs its HVAC system almost entirely at zero cost, because of automated heat and energy harvesting. Keeping staff trained in sustainability practices will embed the message: wasted energy is wasted money.

Sustainable factories

Audits by external bodies can help focus attention and highlight opportunities for improvement. The large Cat® lift truck manufacturing facility in Järvenpää, Finland, is regularly nominated for the EcoVadis environmental team award. Its efforts have been recognised with high ratings in 2022, 2023 and 2025.

“The judges were particularly impressed with the facility’s efforts to reduce environmental impact, actions to support sustainability policies and commitments, and with our compliance with international standards,” said Juuso Sillanpää, Director, Legal and HR. The company completely renewed its painting process with a new, powder painting line, in early 2025. This led to a significant reduction in VOC (volatile organic chemicals) emissions.

“Our intention is to be assessed by EcoVadis annually, from now on. Our goal is to continuously improve our operations and to achieve higher levels,” he added. Lower emissions mean less waste, which means lower costs, so it’s a virtuous circle.

Energy choices

As well as efficient systems, enterprises should look at creating their own energy supplies and storage.

Forklift trucks have had a variety of power sources for decades, including diesel or liquid natural gas (LNG) for internal combustion engines, and lead-acid and, more recently, lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries for electric vehicles. Li‑ion is available across almost the entire Cat electric truck portfolio, including counterbalance and warehouse equipment. Technologies like regenerative braking make the most of electric motive power and extend battery life, optimising energy usage, and they are getting better all the time.

Hydrogen: magic bullet or hype over advantage?

To these can now be added hydrogen but is it the ‘magic bullet’ some proponents have claimed? The answer is: it depends. The EU’s HAWL (Hydrogen and Warehouse Logistics) project, which ran from September 2013 to August 2017, was aimed at assessing competitiveness, technical maturity and user acceptance of hydrogen fuel cell powered forklift fleets in a logistics warehouse environment.

HAWL demonstrated that hydrogen is operationally superior in many warehouse contexts but there has been no mass switch across for several reasons: structural, economic and supply‑chain.

Hydrogen fuel cell forklifts refill in around 2–3 minutes, offer consistent performance over a shift and can be refuelled many times daily without the charge–cool–equalise cycles of lead‑acid.

Hydrogen may be attractive in terms of total cost of ownership, especially in high-intensity operations and 24-hour warehouses, but hydrogen trucks and infrastructure cost more, upfront, than battery-powered alternatives. Operators need either deliveries of hydrogen or an on‑site electrolyser plus compression unit, high‑pressure storage tanks, dedicated refuelling systems and specially trained staff.

Adoption will also depend on local or national energy policy, tax credits, available subsidies and the legislative environment. Availability varies enormously, depending on geography: not just where in the world your warehouse may be but even where in a particular country.

Hydrogen has found certain niches in a few locations operating in special circumstances and with existing, on-site infrastructure. It can also be found in places where operators want, for whatever reason, a visible, cutting‑edge decarbonisation story to tell, even when Li-ion may be simpler, but it has not generally proved attractive to fleet operators.

If not FLTs then how about onsite power generation?

Hydrogen can be viable for on‑site power generation, especially in certain high‑demand situations and where there is a strategic link to production. Caterpillar makes a range of hydrogen-compatible generators, ranging from 1500 to 4500eKW (equivalent kilowatt), which could be useful for providing back-up power in places where on-grid power supply is vulnerable.

Where hydrogen power may be more practical, for a range of uses, is at certain designated hubs, industrial clusters, refineries, chemical plants, steelworks and ports. In these places, hydrogen is already being made and stored and a number of industries and companies and activities are already using and sharing the same infrastructure (see Hydrogen Valleys and Hydrogen Hubs boxout for a list of current sites in Europe, UK, Middle East and Africa). Projects may already be subsidised and coordinated, under EU, UK or other national programmes.

Conclusion: the Li-ion still roars

Today’s warehouse operators and logistics providers are faced with an almost bewildering array of energy sources. Choosing which one to use is something of a maze – or even a minefield, as the costs of getting things wrong can be commercially heavy. Events like the Ukraine War and subsequent rocketing of oil, gas and energy prices more widely were a shock to the system.

Oil-fired power generation is still available and is well established, as a back-up. The hydrogen-powered generators produced by Caterpillar are a viable alternative to oil, depending on storage capacity.

On-site renewables always have the challenge of storage but there is a potential solution in the shape of Air Energy. This is an ingenious system for managing compressed air that can effectively store energy generated by wind turbines and manage its discharge to functions that would otherwise be sharing the same power sources as everything else in the warehouse, including FLTs.

Charging electric forklifts has got faster, with the adoption of Li-ion batteries, leading to more uptime. Propane gas enables IC engine lift trucks to operate indoors. New battery sources, such as sodium-ion, looked like potentially attractive alternatives to Li-ion but their time does not seem to have come, as yet. Hydrogen’s advantages are offset by cost and infrastructure challenges; Li-ion is ‘good enough’ so there is no pressing need for the big capital investment usually necessary in order to make a switch to H2.

Whatever source is being considered, consider the Checklist and Hydrogen Valleys and Hydrogen Hubs boxout, which are designed to help with making informed choices in effective energy management.

Click here for further practical guidance from Cat Lift Trucks on sustainable materials handling, warehousing and logistics.

Checklist

A.    Warehouse operations

• Are smart energy systems (LED lighting, motion sensors, HVAC, automation) installed?
• Are waste reduction and recycling programmes working effectively?
• What is the schedule for staff training in sustainability practices?
• What contribution can robotics and automation make to efficiency?
• How efficient are the site’s compressed air operations and storage management?
• Is logistics planning data-driven or by ‘gut instinct’?
• Are vehicle movements tracked by GPS monitoring?

B.    Forklift trucks

• Has the transition to electrification (fast-charging lithium‑ion) or LNG/propane been completely implemented?
• Is hydrogen appropriate for heavy‑duty use? Is the supply, storage and fuelling infrastructure in place?
• Are biofuels a feasible option for transition from diesel to hydrogen or electric?
• Can robotics improve performance and energy efficiency?
• Is the fleet composed of eco‑forklifts with regenerative braking and energy recovery systems?

C.    Risks and trade‑offs of upgrading energy efficiency

• What are the battery recycling and disposal challenges affecting the site?
• What are the infrastructure gaps that need to be filled:
  • Charging
  • Hydrogen refuelling
  • Energy management
  • Energy storage
• How long will it take to fully transition the forklift fleet to electric/hydrogen/LNG/propane?
• If there are no smart warehouse systems in place, how long will it take to install them?
• What are the initial investment costs?
• How long to full RoI on capital expenditure?
• Can the cost be spread by, e.g., leasing vehicles, rather than outright purchase?
• What are the training and adaptation requirements?