Click for more information.
Toyota North America (NYSE:TM) said today that it has agreed to buy 100-megawatts (MW) of the electricity generated as part of renewable energy company Savion’s Martin County Solar Project. The project is converting the former Martiki Coal Mine, a brownfield site in Martin County, on the border of Kentucky and West Virginia, into a new solar photovoltaic energy facility. (AutoInformed.com: McKinsey – EU Decarbonization Targets Require Lots of Land)
“It is important that renewable power is more available to large-scale US energy buyers and converting brownfields like this offers a path forward for former energy communities to take advantage of the infrastructure they already have with transmission lines while providing clean energy to the grid,” said David Absher, senior manager of environmental sustainability at Toyota Motor North America.
Toyota said the previously active coal mine on the top of a mountain, which closed in the 1990s, the Martiki site has clear access to light from the sun, making it suitable for reclamation and the installation of solar photovoltaic panels for electricity generation. Construction on the project is estimated to begin in mid-2023 and commercial operation is expected in 2024.
The 100 MW that Toyota will purchase from the project will be used primarily to help reduce the company’s carbon footprint in North America. Kentucky is the state with Toyota’s largest vehicle manufacturing plant in the world. Toyota plans to make all its operations in North America carbon neutral by 2035.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Toyota to Buy Solar Power from Former Coal Mine
Click for more information.
Toyota North America (NYSE:TM) said today that it has agreed to buy 100-megawatts (MW) of the electricity generated as part of renewable energy company Savion’s Martin County Solar Project. The project is converting the former Martiki Coal Mine, a brownfield site in Martin County, on the border of Kentucky and West Virginia, into a new solar photovoltaic energy facility. (AutoInformed.com: McKinsey – EU Decarbonization Targets Require Lots of Land)
“It is important that renewable power is more available to large-scale US energy buyers and converting brownfields like this offers a path forward for former energy communities to take advantage of the infrastructure they already have with transmission lines while providing clean energy to the grid,” said David Absher, senior manager of environmental sustainability at Toyota Motor North America.
Toyota said the previously active coal mine on the top of a mountain, which closed in the 1990s, the Martiki site has clear access to light from the sun, making it suitable for reclamation and the installation of solar photovoltaic panels for electricity generation. Construction on the project is estimated to begin in mid-2023 and commercial operation is expected in 2024.
The 100 MW that Toyota will purchase from the project will be used primarily to help reduce the company’s carbon footprint in North America. Kentucky is the state with Toyota’s largest vehicle manufacturing plant in the world. Toyota plans to make all its operations in North America carbon neutral by 2035.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.