Dive Brief:
- Toyota plans to build a megawatt-scale carbonate fuel cell power generation plant with a hydrogen fueling station at the Port of Long Beach, the San Diego Union Tribune reported.
- Though not set to come online until 2020, the Tri-Gen facility will create roughly 2.35 megawatts of electricity and 1.2 tons of hydrogen daily, or enough to power nearly 2,350 medium-sized homes and 1,500 vehicles.
- The plant will be powered by bio-waste produced from California agricultural waste to generate water, electricity and hydrogen, and is the first North American Toyota facility to create and rely on 100% renewable power.
Dive Insight:
The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are among the busiest and most green in the country, and thus the logical location to enact the Project Portal, Toyota's plan for a massive hydrogen fuel cell and fueling station.
The facility is intended to power all Toyota fuel cell vehicles passing through the port, including deliveries of the new Mirai sedan and heavy duty hydrogen fuel cell class 8 truck, named Project Portal. To support refueling, the company has also located one of the largest hydrogen fueling stations in the world at the Port, along with assistance from Air Liquide.
California's heavy-duty vehicles, including port-based drayage vehicles, cause at least 30% of the state’s smog-related nitrogen oxide, or NOx, emissions, contributing roughly 7% to the entire state's global warming emissions.
Reducing those numbers is imperative, especially at a port that has just renewed its commitment to the Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) to reach zero and near-zero emissions for trucks and cargo-handling equipment.
Current CAAP goals include the phasing in of clean engine standards for port trucks, and the offering of preferential terminal access to green trucks, in an effort to transition to a zero emission drayage fleet by 2035, as well as a reduction in idling to reach zero emissions yard equipment by 2030.
Toyota's fuel cell initiative will contribute greatly to these determined plans as sustainability becomes more of a priority for carmakers.
