Mazda investing in joint research projects to get algae-based fuels commercial

March 30, 2020 |

In the UK, Mazda is currently involved in joint research projects and studies as part of an ongoing industry-academia-government collaboration to promote the wide-spread adoption of biofuels from microalgae growth.

As part of its ‘Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030’ long-term technology development program, the company is committed to reducing its average ‘Well-to-Wheel’ CO2 emissions to 50% of 2010 levels by 2030, and to 90% by 2050.

Expecting that internal combustion engines combined with some form of electrification will still account for some 95% of the vehicles it produces in 2030, and that liquid fuel will remain dominant in the automotive industry until at least 2040, Mazda considers a renewable liquid fuel essential to drastic CO2 reduction.

Improving productivity and reducing costs are fundamental to the widespread future availability of algae biofuels. To that end, Mazda is lending research-accelerating technical support to the combination of research into genome editing by Hiroshima University and plant physiology by the Tokyo Institute of Technology which is intended to lead to a breakthrough in these areas.

As part of the ‘Well-to-Wheel’ initiative, Mazda has developed a multi-solution approach to reduce overall carbon dioxide emissions without any compromise to driving pleasure and performance to its vehicles. Ingenious Skyactiv technologies such as i-STOP, Cylinder Deactivation and Mazda M Hybrid 24V mild-hybrid system are fitted as standard on selected models across the range, while the Mazda3 and CX-30 are offered with Mazda’s revolutionary 2.0-litre 180ps Skyactiv-X Spark Controlled Compression Ignition (SPCCI) petrol engine.

Category: Research

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