Yamaha to establish new verification testing facility for hydrogen use study

MANILA: Yamaha Motor Company Limited will establish a new verification testing facility in Japan.

Per the Japanese motorcycle marque, the new site aims to help reach its carbon-neutral goals as it will be equipped with a melting furnace and heat treatment furnace that will be powered by hydrogen from the Shizuoka-headquartered brand’s Morimachi Factory.

“From 2025, we will begin development and verification of technologies and techniques for melting aluminum alloy using hydrogen gas, as well as comprehensive verification testing for requisite facilities, equipment, and more. By the end of 2026, we plan to complete the development of technologies for melting aluminum alloy and heat-treating cast parts using hydrogen gas and to gradually implement them at our domestic and international casting factories from 2027 onward,” Yamaha wrote in a press release.

The said verification testing — Yamaha pointed out — is part of its move to minimize Scope 1 carbon dioxide emissions across the life cycles of its products.

Aside from manufacturing cast parts for motorcycles, Yamaha makes outboard motors, and other products that use aluminum alloys. Melting the aforementioned materials require the use of natural gas and other fossil fuels.

To note, Yamaha also makes automotive sound systems currently found on locally available models of the Mitsubishi XForce and Zeekr X.

In Yamaha’s research for alternative energy sources, it judged that electrification is not suited for the melting process in terms of energy efficiency as it requires a large amount of heat. On that note, the marque turned its attention to hydrogen energy, which it is already studying as an option for reducing Scope 3 emissions.

Yamaha explained that the verification testing itself will include examining the influence hydrogen gas has on quality and developing temperature control techniques using hydrogen burners.

“Yamaha Motor, in line with its Yamaha Motor Group Environmental Plan 2050, is working toward being carbon neutral throughout all of its supply chains, including the company’s business activities by 2050. Furthermore, with Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, we have accelerated our plans to achieve carbon neutrality at our manufacturing sites — including at group companies — by 2035 and are ramping up our efforts to that end,” Yamaha noted.

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