Clean Air
Hydrogen Home Energy Station
Imagine the convenience of filling up your car at home.
And then imagine heating and powering your home from the same source. The Honda Home Energy Station makes that dream a reality. Using natural gas as its base energy source, it can supply enough hydrogen to power a fuel cell vehicle, like the Honda FCX, for daily operation, as well as enough electricity for an average-sized household. On top of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by close to 40%, the Home Energy Station is expected to lower the total running cost of household electricity, gas and vehicle fuel by an incredible 50%.
Fuel Cell Technology
Honda developed the FCX fuel cell vehicle as an integral way to reduce our global dependence on oil.
A fuel cell reverses the electrolysis of water, producing electricity through the chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen to turn an electric motor and power the vehicle. Fuel cell electric vehicles produce no CO2 or any harmful emissions whatsoever.
Honda began road testing fuel cell electric vehicles in 1999. Since delivering the first FCX fuel cell vehicles to both the Japanese Cabinet Office and to the City of Los Angeles in 2002, the first individual customers of a Honda fuel cell vehicle were announced in 2005. Honda continued to develop its fuel cell technology with the goal of more widespread commercialization. In November 2007, Honda unveiled the FCX Clarity advanced fuel cell electric vehicle featuring a fuel cell stack that was lighter, more compact and more powerful than ever before. With exceptional output of 100 kW, the stack featured a 50 percent increase in output density by volume and 67 percent by mass. As compared to its predecessor the FCX, the FCX Clarity offered 20 percent higher fuel economy and a 30 percent greater vehicle range.* *Honda calculations.
The FCX Clarity was the world's first vehicle to feature Honda's original plant-based Honda Bio-Fabric in its interior. The FCX Clarity also offered climate-controlled seats, which can warm and cool the occupant directly, helping to reduce the overall amount of electricity used for heating and cooling. Honda began leasing the FCX Clarity to individual customers in the United States in July 2008, and in Japan in November 2008.
On January 6, 2010, Honda delivered FCX Clarity to its latest customer, 2010 Canadian Olympic hockey team captain, Scott Niedermayer. Also a team captain for the Anaheim Ducks National Hockey League team, Niedermayer is a leader both on and off the ice, promoting an environmentally responsible lifestyle and the protection of natural resources.
Bioethanol fuel, made from plant sources such as sugar cane, doesn’t increase carbon dioxide when used to power vehicles.
The plants absorb CO2 via photosynthesis, and make bioethanol fuel an effective means of combating global warming, and a viable alternative to petroleum. Honda's latest bioethanol initiative and one of its most significant is the building of a plant in Wako, Japan devoted to the creation of mass-produced bioethanol.
Honda manufactures and sells next-generation solar cells.
In October 2007, Honda Soltec Co., Ltd. began manufacturing and selling the panels for use on manufacturing facilities, public buildings and private homes.Utilizing thin film made from a compound of copper, indium, gallium and selenium (CIGS), Honda's next-generation solar cells are 1/80 the thickness of conventional silicon solar cells. Helping to reduce CO2 emissions from the production stage onward, Honda's solar cell technology has also achieved the highest level of photoelectric transfer efficiency for a thin film solar cell.