‘The future has already begun’ – that’s the motto of Linde Material Handling (Linde MH) and Linde Gas Division as they were presenting the fruit of their joint project in Unterschleißheim in Upper Bavaria. Two brand new fuel-cell forklifts which are ready for series production were on display. The location – Linde’s Hydrogen Center – was as perfectly suited for such an occasion as was the day for the start of our textual work for our new client Linde MH.

The guests who had come in large numbers were informed in detail about the chances and possibilities of this innovative technology by representatives of the two companies. Among other interesting facts, the audience learned that the US-American retail giant Walmart has already used hydrogen-powered and thus emission-free vehicles for several years. But even more exciting than facts and figures was to watch the forklifts in action and at the in-house hydrogen station.

All those who had a license to drive a forklift could grab the opportunity to take the red Linde vehicle on a ride through a course which had been set up especially for the occasion. It was great to see that all the ‘test drivers’ were getting out of the cabin with a broad smile on their faces. ‘Looks like riding a forklift makes happy’, remarked one of the guests. Maybe the smile on their faces was partly due to the certainty, too, that they had experienced a piece of emission-free future live and in action.

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