Toyota highlights clean wind-to-wheel energy

By CARSIFU | 21 December 2017

Hydrogen is pumped into a delivery tanker.

A forklift powered by hydrogen.

TOKYO: Toyota Corp’s joint-venture with Yokohama and Kawasaki cities, and several technology partners to produce wind-power produced hydrogen is becoming a viable showcase for clean energy usage.Hydrogen produced are used to power 12 fuel cell forklifts operating in a wholesale market and a brewery in Yokohama, and two logistics companies in Kawasaki.The test project site at Yokohama’s bay area, also called the Hama Wing, was commissioned in 2015 to produce electricity from a wind turbine with an output of 1,980kW. Electricity generated runs the water electrolysis system to extract hydrogen. Excess electricity is used to power the facility’s equipment and also sold to the main power grid.To stabilise power spikes and dips caused by inconsistent wind force, the facility has a power storage unit comprising 180 used battery packs from Toyota Prius hybrids.Even when wind is not strong enough to turn the turbine, the facility can still draw energy from the power storage unit to produce hydrogen.Hydrogen produced will be stored on site before being transferred into hybrid tanker trucks to be delivered to the forklifts. The on-site storage can hold up to two days’ supply of hydrogen.Compared with other hydrogen producing facilities using electricity generated from fossil-fuel, the Yokohama facility is cleaner by 80% and its only carbon footprint comes from exhaust gases of the tanker trucks.Despite having a similar operating time of eight hours with electric forklifts, fuel cell forklifts can be fuelled up in three minutes and do not require cumbersome spare batteries that require six to eight hours of charging.