Toyota Times – Hydrogen Is Hot in the Northern Lands! Expanding the Decarbonization Movement

Toyota Times – Hydrogen Is Hot in the Northern Lands! Expanding the Decarbonization Movement

The Sapporo Snow Festival is Hokkaido’s largest winter event, with over 2 million visitors attending from near and far.

Toyota Times News heard that hydrogen was being used in various ways at the event and went to investigate.

For the first time, the Snow Festival included the GX (green transformation) Decarbonization Area. It used clean energy sources like hydrogen and solar, with a Mirai and FCEV (fuel cell electric vehicle) Crown supplying electricity for the rest area.

The rest area was also heated by a hydrogen stove developed by Tsuchiya Manufacturing, a local company founded in 1927. Burning hydrogen results in steam, which delightfully humidified the room at the same time.

Tsuchiya Manufacturing has mainly been manufacturing milk storage tanks for dairy farmers, but the company president Toshiyuki Tsuchiya took on this new challenge because, “Hokkaido should lead the way in food and energy.” President Tsuchiya loves the phrase, “long-established venture.”

While it was a hydrogen stove that warmed the visitors at the rest area, a vending machine powered by a small hydrogen fuel cell battery quenched their thirst using the same technology as the Mirai. The inspiration to develop it came from experiences of the 2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake.

The Mirai and Crown were fueled at a hydrogen station in Sapporo. The new station, scheduled to open this spring, is the second location in Hokkaido after one in Shikaoi. The facility structure incorporates many special measures to handle the cold climate. (For more information on the hydrogen being made in Shikaoi,

Now, back at the Snow Festival, hydrogen was also used at a photo spot with people lined up. Smiling faces were seen behind the flickering flames to commemorate this additional Hokkaido innovation.

Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto, who showed us around the GX area, explained:

We want to achieve a decarbonized society as quickly as possible by gathering knowledge from companies and university researchers,

In wintry Sapporo, the circle of like-minded partners working toward using hydrogen is growing.

READ the latest news shaping the hydrogen market at Hydrogen Central

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