Toyota Sets Sights on Carbon Neutrality in Europe by 2040

Toyota maintains operations in Europe will be carbon neutral by 2040, at Toyota Motor Europe’s (TME) annual Kenshiki presentation in Brussels.

Marvin Cooke, executive vice president of manufacturing for TME, outlined how the company plans to make its European manufacturing facilities carbon-neutral. The automaker, he said, will minimize energy consumption, switch to green energy and implement continuous improvement innovations to reduce or eliminate CO2 emissions.

He noted these efforts are already underway, with the automaker installing solar panels “equivalent to 10 football pitches” and recycling over 90% of the waste at its engine plant in Deeside in the U.K.

“We expect to be carbon-neutral as early as 2025,” he told Ward’s Auto. “(With) activities outside our direct control, such as upstream supply and logistics, the challenge is greater and one we will achieve in close collaboration with our partners and suppliers.”

Matt Harrison, president and CEO of TME, reported the company has two focus areas. “The first is carbon neutrality and how we plan to achieve it in areas of our business, and the second is the future of mobility as we transition from a manufacturing and sales company to a provider of mobility services,” he said.

Gill Pratt, chief scientist of Toyota Motor Corp. and CEO of Toyota Research Institute, shared how the automaker plans to approach decarbonization globally. Its efforts will include using multiple electrified technologies and optimizing the use of scarce resources to improve carbon reduction.

Toyota’s multi-powertrain-technology strategy will include battery-powered and hydrogen powered vehicles. Company leaders explain the short supply and high costs of battery materials and the lack of infrastructure make a combination of battery-electric, plug-in hybrid-electric, hybrid-electric and fuel-cell vehicles the best approach to reducing CO2 emissions over the next decade.

“We must do what is best for the environment, which is to extract the most carbon reduction from each battery cell produced, replacing as many non-electrified vehicles as possible with electrified ones, guided by the simple principle that carbon is the enemy, not any particular powertrain,” Pratt explained.

Originally posted on Auto Dealer Today