April 13, 2009 - Nestle Waters North America has converted the entire fleet of lift trucks at its Dallas, Texas, bottling facility into hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles in a bid to cut costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

Nestle Waters just completed installation of the 32 GenDrive hydrogen fuel cells, which were purchased from their manufacturer, Plug Power, in 2008.

"Nestle Waters assessed all their internal combustion engine replacement options and found that the GenDrive fuel cell solution was less expensive than investing in lead acid batteries and costly battery equipment," according to Tony Troutt, director of sales at Plug Power. "Fuel cells were also found to be more efficient. Most importantly, converting their fleet to hydrogen fuel cells allows Nestle Waters to eliminate exhaust emission issues, ultimately creating an improved working environment for their employees as well as a reduced carbon footprint."