Toyota joins Japanese effort to test full-fledged hydrogen supply chain
by Cleantech Canada Staff
Trial to use wind energy and electrolysis to create carbon-neutral environment
Though still in the planning stages, the trial would create an alternative to fossil fuel-based supply chains. PHOTO: Toyota
TOKYO—Toyota Motor Corp. has announced it will take part in a Japanese public and private sector effort to test hydrogen on a large scale. The trial will take place south of Tokyo near Yokohama and Kawasaki.
The automaker, which has been producing and working to commercialize hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, noted the use of fossil fuels for transportation as well as power and heat generation, accounts for over half of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, producing nearly 25 gigatons of carbon dioxide annually.
“Realizing the importance of taking on this challenge by establishing carbon-neutral supply chains across different sectors (from power generation to vehicle fueling) as soon as possible, major corporate and public sector partners in Japan have decided to work together,” Toyota said.
“Hydrogen has the potential to permanently change the way we generate and use power,” the company added.
The trial will use renewable wind energy to isolate hydrogen through electrolysis. The hydrogen will then be stored for use across the supply chain in an effort to test the feasibility of the technology.
The project is expected to take place over four years. At this stage, the project partners, which include Kanagawa Prefectural Government, Yokohama City, and Kawasaki City on the public side, as well as Iwatani Corp., Toshiba Corp., Toyota, and Toyota Turbine and Systems Inc. from the private sphere, are still in the planning stages.
Toyota said the implementation is set to begin from April 2016 onward.
