Honda may commercialize carbon-capture algae tech in effort to go green: Report

Honda Motor is mulling to commercialize its algae-growing technology, which can be used to absorb carbon and create biofuels, plastics and other products, the Nikkei newspaper reported. The carmaker will first test mass production of the organic material and then build a new facility of about 1,000 square meters.

From the second half of 2023, Honda will use the algae at its own production facilities in Japan and Southeast Asia to offset carbon emissions. This decision comes as the company is looking to ramp up its efforts to go green as it pledges to phase out sales of combustion engine cars by 2040 and achieve net-zero emissions for its entire supply chain by 2050.

As per the company's sustainability report, Honda’s scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions for its fiscal year through 2021 were 4.5 million tons. Also, there are two ways that the companies are seeking to use algae as a potential replacement to traditional biomass fuels such as corn and soybeans, considering that prices of biofuels have been pushed up due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Honda has improved its algae’s resistance to infection, which enables it to grow more efficiently. The organic material can multiply 32 times in a single day as compared with once or twice for ordinary algae, the report stated. Honda is planning to use biofuels made from algae for its HondaJet airplane as well as for electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft or eVTOLs. The latter, it aims to commercialize in the 2030s, the report stated.

As part of its green efforts, the company is also looking to push its electrification process by raising $2.75 billion through US-dollar dominated green bonds.

(with inputs from Bloomnerg)