US Energy Secretary Norman Chu announced funding of USD41.9 million for fuel cell technology on 15 April 2009 (Forkliftaction.com News #407), but one of the recipients-a brewery of Anheuser-Busch InBev NV-opted recently to decline its grant of USD1.1 million.

Last year's Department of Energy (DoE) press release said: "Anheuser-Busch will deploy 23 fuel cell systems as battery replacements for a complete fleet of electric lift trucks at their facility in Fort Collins, Colorado, demonstrating the economic benefits of large fleet conversions of forklifts from lead-acid batteries to fuel cell power units. Success in this project will lead to further fleet conversions at some or all of Anheuser-Busch's other 11 U.S. facilities."

That is not going to happen, at least for now.

Apparently, negotiations between DoE and Anheuser-Busch broke down after the brewer identified unexpected costs it would need to incur.

Anheuser-Busch management utilises other existing clean-energy initiatives but, after a post-announcement project analysis, was unwilling to tackle aspects of fuel cell technology.

Anheuser-Busch InBev is based in Leuven, Belgium, has a portfolio of 13 global, multi-country and regional brewery brands and holds a global market share of nearly 25%.