In Japan, Toshiba is using its advancements in hydrogen energy in an innovative “Hydrogen Hotel” project to help Kawasaki City overcome the city’s pollution problem. Opened on June 1, 2018, the hydrogen hotel in Kawasaki City creates hydrogen from waste plastics to supply about 30% of the energy the hotel needs. In the first year after its opening, the hotel ran a test in which it recycles even the amenities used in the hotel rooms (toothbrushes, hair combs) as feedstocks for hydrogen production.
Headquartered in Kawasaki City, and having researched fuel cell technologies since the 1960s, Toshiba has developed a product called H2Rex™, a pure hydrogen fuel cell system that converts hydrogem to heat and electric power without producing CO2. At the time of the project, Toshiba had already implemented the system in more than 100 sites, including supermarkets ad convenience stores.
The project required the linkage of each step in the supply chain, from waste plastics to the hotel, one by one. The imortant thing was figuring out how to connect this hydrogen supply chain within Kawasaki City.