Japan had hoped to showcase the power of hydrogen at Tokyo Olympics
JAPAN had intended to showcase hydrogen at this year’s Tokyo Olympics. Organisers had planned to use it to power 100 fuel cell buses to shuttle athletes and visitors to venues around the city. Up to 500 of hydrogen-fuelled cars had been due to ferry around staff and VIPs and the thousands of athletes from around the world would have been living in a village, partly powered by hydrogen.
“With all the world watching the Games, Japan knew that this would have been a great opportunity to focus attention on hydrogen as a viable source of clean fuel,” said Paul Humanic, a process manager at US-based energy company Nexceris.
Japan had also planned to use hydrogen to light the torch and the cauldron for the first time in Olympic history.
The Games may have been postponed this year due to the global pandemic but Japan is hoping it will have the chance to stage the most environmentally-friendly Games in history in 2021. “Japan wants hydrogen to be the legacy of its Olympics,” said Paul.
Hydrogen has been used, for over 40 years, in vast quantities by industry in many parts of the world, and as a fuel for space exploration. Both have developed the infrastructure to produce, store and transport it safely.
It’s the wider general public that needs to be convinced of its benefits. “Many countries are now funding research into hydrogen generation through electrolysis so that hydrogen can be generated on site where it is needed, and can supplement the grid during peak times,” said Paul.
But over the past decade, Japan – through necessity – has become one of the champions of hydrogen and fuel-cell technology.
After the 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant disaster, Japan shut down many of its nuclear power stations and switched to fossil fuels imported from abroad.
With little energy security and independence, it is little wonder that it is investing so heavily in creating a hydro-gen-powered economy.
“Even if next year’s Games are cancelled, Japan will most certainly continue down this road,” said Paul. “It may be many years into the future before hydrogen is a viable energy alternative on a country-wide scale but Japan will continue working to commercialise hydrogen technologies and phase out fossil fuel and nuclear technologies.”
Japanese car manufacturer Toyota, and a key sponsor of the Tokyo Olympics, believes that hydrogen represents the future of motoring.
Its car, Mirai, is the world’s first, mass-produced hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. The hydrogen is stored in carbon fibre fuel tanks.
Oxygen from the outside enters through the Mirai’s front air vent. The hydrogen and the air travel separately to the fuel stack where electricity is generated through a chemical reaction. Best of all, the only emission is water.
For now, though, Japan waits for news of whether it can host next year’s Olympics and show off what hydrogen can not only do for the economy, but also the huge difference it can make to the environment.
“We see these Games as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to showcase on an unprecedented scale what the transition to a sustainable society can look like,” said Mori Yoshiro, President of Tokyo 2020.
“With all the world watching the Games, Japan knew that this would have been a great opportunity to focus attention on hydrogen as a viable source of clean fuel,” – Paul Humanic, Process Manager at Nexceris Mirai
Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has built the world’s first, mass-produced hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.