In late May, Toyota and Huntsville Utilities announced an agreement to build a $49 million solar project. Spanning a stunning 168 acres, this solar field will ensure that more than 70% of the engine plant’s power is solar-generated. Construction is scheduled to finish by summer 2024.
“Toyota is taking a transparent, science-based approach to address climate change,” said Jason Puckett, president of Toyota Alabama. “By relying on the sun to power our operations, we will reduce our carbon footprint and create a model of environmental stewardship in North Alabama.”
Upon completion, Huntsville’s solar system is expected to generate 62,000 megawatt hours annually. That’s enough energy to power more than 5,600 homes! The solar array will also reduce about 22,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually. That’s equivalent to the emissions produced by burning nearly 2.5 million gallons of gasoline.
In 2021, Toyota told the world its factories would be carbon-neutral by 2035. Carbon neutrality is when the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere equals the amount of carbon being removed by natural or human processes. And by 2050, Toyota wants to eliminate all CO2 emissions in factories and reduce emissions from new vehicles by 90%.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Huntsville, Alabama helps on both of those fronts. Its new solar array will save emissions — and so will some of the hundreds of thousands of engines it produces yearly.
In 2022, the engine plant added a special production line for Toyota’s i-FORCE and i-FORCE MAX engines The i-FORCE MAX is a workhorse hybrid engine that brings unprecedented power to the Toyota Tundra and cuts emissions simultaneously. Hybrid and all-electric vehicles represent Toyota’s commitment to a carbon-neutral future.
To learn more about Toyota’s electric lineup, visit your local dealership.