The Japanese carmaker will use hydrogen fuel cells in-house before it goes on the road.
Toyota's LA site sustainability programme manager, Mark Yamamuchi Image:TMC |
The fuel cell technology is due to be launched in Toyota's road cars in 2015, but the company has decided to give it a heavy-duty trial run by installing a 1.11 megawatt stationary fuel cell in its Sales HQ near Los Angeles.
The massive cell will demonstrate the power and flexibility of hydrogen fuel cell technology which has long been heralded by some as the main challenger to to hydrocarbon-based fuels.
In this case, the in-house technology will use the same Proton Exchange Membrane technology as the company's vehicles.
According to Toyota, at its peak during the summer season, the fuel cell will produce an average power supply equivalent to the electricity needs of 746 American homes; will deliver a power capacity of twice the amount produced by a solar panel array on the same site and will reduce CO2 emissions from the site by as much as 1500 tonnes during peak operation.
The cell is believed to be the largest of its type in the world and the first time the technology has been used as a static power generator.