The Home Depot is expanding its use of hydrogen power in 2016, proceeding with plans to improve the sustainability and energy efficiency of its supply chain operations.
Following the successful integration of hydrogen power into a new Ohio online order fulfillment facility, the company is incorporating hydrogen power into a Savannah, Georgia, distribution center in 2016, according to investment website Seeking Alpha.
In July of 2015, the Home Depot opened a 1.6 million-square-foot distribution facility in Troy Township, Ohio, complete with a fleet of nearly 200 hydrogen fuel-cell operated forklifts, according to an article from the newspaper The Toledo Blade.
Using hydrogen fuel cells has reduced the amount of electricity the facility uses because the hydrogen-powered forklift batteries don’t have to be charged, The Home Depot states in its 2015 Sustainability Report.
At the Ohio facility, the hydrogen-powered forklifts save the company more than 200 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and eliminate 800 metric tons of carbon emissions per year, the report says. “Fuel cells emit no emissions,” according to the sustainability report.