Tokyo 2020 had been postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and has become the first postponed Olympic game in history. Apart from hosting the highest level of competition among sports elites of various countries once every four years, the Olympic Games are also a means to elevate international spotlight, and Japan has laid down several targets as the host.
Japan aims to promote its cultural industry, energy sustainability, and the concept of modern technology through Tokyo 2020, such as the 5,000 Olympic medal boxes hand made by the woodworkers from Hokkaido, the online Olympic cultural exhibition, and the distinctive wafuku designed for the 218 participating countries and regions. Advanced modern technologies have also been showcased throughout the event, including the 1,824 drones involved in the performance at the opening ceremony, the advanced AI facial recognition systems, 5G streaming systems and AI auxiliary systems on the fields, and the testing of the EV self-driving vehicle e-Palette from Toyota.
Hydrogen is also a major theme this time. Japan had decided to implement the theme of “hydrogen city” when planning for green energy back in 2017, and Shinzo Abe believed at the time that hydrogen is an excellent solution in resolving energy and global warming. This made Tokyo 2020 the optimal opportunity for the Japanese government to demonstrate its hydrogen policy.
Japan announced the “Basic Hydrogen Strategy” in December 2017, and proposed 5.3 million units of residential fuel cells, 800K units of fuel cell vehicles, 900 units of hydrogen refueling stations, as well as a procurement of roughly 300K tons of hydrogen each year, by 2030. The country hopes to lower the cost of hydrogen to JPY 30/Nm3, before further decreasing the figure to JPY 20/Nm3 after expanding the supply chain of hydrogen in the future.
Japan would naturally hope that the relevant technology of hydrogen can be applied on Tokyo 2020, including the energy source for the Olympic Village, and the fuel buses used between games. The country planned to utilize 500 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and 100 hydrogen fuel cell buses to transport players and staffs at various venues. However, the plan has seen changes under the impact from the pandemic. Yuki Arata, the Senior Director of Sustainability for Tokyo 2020, commented that most of the hydrogen targets were achieved, as well as applied in the games, except two, which are the hydrogen fuel buses provided by Toyota and the hydrogen program at the building of Olympic Village.
The torch tower of Tokyo 2020 also adopted hydrogen that does not derive carbon dioxide. Past Olympic flames used propane as the combustible material, and the torch tower this year uses renewable energy of hydrogen produced from a Fukushima factory, though the torch relay uses both hydrogen and propane.
Among these, the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development (NEDO) started the construction of a hydrogen plant at Namie called Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field (F2HR) with Toshiba, Tohoku Electric Power, and Iwatani Corp since July 2018. As one of the largest hydrogen plants in the world, F2HR is able to produce, store, and supply 900 tons of hydrogen each year.
Despite the chaos and turbulence amidst the chain reactions generated by the COVID-19 pandemic that continue to impact the supply chain and various industries, Keith Wipke, the Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Technologies Program Manager at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, commented that the pandemic has yet to affect Japan’s enthusiasm in hydrogen, and has not seen any indications that are pointing to Japan or other countries forfeiting the target of the particular renewable energy. Wipke added that a country that has given up on hydrogen targets is probably unaware at the speed of climate change actions.
(Cover photo source: shutterstock)