Toyota's Corporate 'Green' Effort Flowering at Prius Plant in Toyota City

We know that Toyota Motor Co., interested in all things renewable and sustainable, has an agricultural operation in Japan where it grows plants for use in the manufacture of bioplastics.

Now comes word that the giant automaker also has developed two new flowering species for the purpose of absorbing nitrogen oxides (NOx) from the atmosphere and lowering the temperature of the grounds surrounding its Prius factory, reducing the energy used to cool the building.

The "Toyota flowers" are derivatives of two existing plans - the cherry sage (left) and the gardenia.

Richard Blackburn, who tells the tale in Drive.com Australia, says the Toyota sage has leaves that absorb harmful gases such as NOx, while the Toyota gardenia has leaves that produce water vapor, which helps lower the ambient temperature.

When planted in large beds surrounding the Prius factory in Toyota City, the gardenias can make enough of a difference that the company can use less energy to run air conditioning to cool the factory.

Of course, Toyota already uses solar power for a lot of the plant's energy and has painted the exterior walls with a special paint that absorbs NOx and other gases.

The company also has developed a special grass for the lawns around the factory complex - it grows more slowly than other grasses and only needs to be mowed once a year - and recently planted 50,000 trees on the campus to help absorb CO2.

As Blackburn reports, Toyota has been criticized by rivals for the carbon-intensive production process used for the Prius.

But the company says that the car's lower emissions and higher fuel economy negate the extra CO2 emitted at the factory by the end of the first year in use.

The emissions and energy reduction efforts at the plant, Toyota insists, are not a response to critics, but part of a longstanding corporate policy to make every facility as green as possible.

This is one time where a simple "whatever," really is an appropriate response.

Whatever the reason - whether from altruism or image-building - what Toyota is doing is great and ought to be copied by all manufacturers.

Posted by

John O'Dell October 26, 2009, 8:38 AM

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Emissions, Japan, Toyota

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Prius, Toyota CO2, Toyota Flowers, Toyota Sustainability