Kalmar demonstrates its new dual powered reachstacker

Stefan Johansson, Kalmar’s director of business development & product marketing, said that the prototype machine that was developed in partnership its customer Global Service, “is expected to offer customers an alternative for moving cargo in a more energy-efficient way as well as cutting down emissions at the terminal”.

“LNG fuel is a future trend within the vehicle and shipping industries to reduce exhaust emissions. When more and more ports have LNG available, there will be possibilities to run other terminal products on liquefied natural gas. LNG will reduce the carbon footprint (and) the demonstration unit shows up to 20% lower fuel cost per hour,” added Johansson.

LNG is natural gas, mostly methane, which has been cryogenically super-cooled and condensed into liquid form for storage and transport: it is lighter than air, so when gas leaks out it evaporates into the atmosphere. By contrast, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is heavier than air and falls to ground level when released.