All language subtitles for Tomorrows.World.Today.S08E04.1080p.WEB.h264-FREQUENCY_track3_[eng]

[narrator] On "Tomorrow's
World Today," we explore

the cutting edge advances

that are shaping
four different worlds --

the world of inspiration,
where the wonders of

the natural world amaze
and inspire us.

The world of creation,
where ideas come to life

from traditional arts.

The world of innovation,
where ideas and inventions

move us all forward.

The world of production,
where innovations are

mass-produced to improve
our lives.

From Inventionland World
Headquarters, here's your host,

George Davison.

For over a century,
the automotive industry's been

a driving force of innovation
and progress, always working to

be more efficient.

This industry's dedicated to
streamlining production,

minimizing waste,
and enhancing performance.

So, let's fast forward to
today, and what we see are

automakers making all sorts of
technological advances.

From the beginning of a design
process to integrating

renewable energy sources to
power vehicles.

So I'm gonna send Tamara to
the world of production so

we can take a closer look.

In the race to achieve zero
carbon emissions, companies are

setting ambitious carbon
neutrality goals and creating

innovative projects to
achieve them.

I'm here today at Toyota
Logistics Services

in Long Beach, California,

where we're going to explore
a first of

its kind station that uses
electric fuel cell technology

to create renewable energies.

It's called Trigen,
and they use biogas to create

three products --
renewable electricity,

renewable hydrogen,
and usable water.

This approach is set to
revolutionize vehicle

processing operations at
the Port of Long Beach

and serves as a scalable model
for reducing emissions for

various industries,
creating a greener,

cleaner future.

To get things started,
I'm gonna head inside and meet

with Mark Yamauchi,
Environmental and Sustainable

Manager at Toyota.

[door squeaking]

Hi Tamara, Mark Yamauchi.
So nice to meet you.

-Welcome to Toyota.
-Thank you.

I'm so excited for what
we're gonna see here today.

I can't wait to show you.
Let's go see.

All right, let's take a look.

So I would love to start
big picture.

Tell me a little bit about
Toyota's global

sustainability goals.

Well, globally,
our North Star is

our Toyota Environmental
Challenge 2050,

which consists of
goals that address

our carbon,
water, materials,

and biodiversity impacts.
-Mm-hmm.

In the U.S.,
we have our interim milestone

goal of achieving carbon
neutrality by 2035.

OK, so what made this
location the right place to try

to start achieving that?

[Mark] Well, it's one of our
most important port processing

facilities in the U.S.

It's a great opportunity to
start our journey towards

carbon neutrality, as well as
addressing our impacts on

the community in water,
materials, and biodiversity.

I would love to know more
about that.

Well, let me introduce you to
Jeff White, Senior Manager at

TLS, who's the expert,
and he will tell you more

about that.
-That would be fantastic.

Follow me.

Hey, Jeff.
This is Tamara.

-Hey, it's great to meet you.
-Hi, Tamara.

Great to meet you.

Tamara, I'll leave you in
Jeff's capable hands,

and I'll see you later.

Great.
Thank you so much.

So, Mark told me that you could
give me the low down on what

actually happens here at TLS.

Sure.

At TLS, we see ourselves as
a link between

the manufacturing plant and the
customer, which is our dealer.

We receive vehicles in about
200,000 units a year,

and we add accessories.

So we try to give the customer
what they want.

So they want a running board,
put on a running board,

it could be a drop hitch,
or it could be

a door edge guard.

Once we complete all
the accessories, then we do

a final quality confirmation,
and then we'll also put on

the window sticker.
-Got it, all right,

well, I'm always in favor of
a good accessory,

so thank you for that.

And it also sounds like you do
a lot of the things here that

people like me get excited
about when we go

to the dealership.

I am curious about one
thing, though.

So I know Toyota does a lot of
manufacturing of their vehicles

for the U.S. market
in the U.S.,

but where exactly are
the vehicles

that come through
TLS mainly manufactured?

Yeah, we receive our vehicles
from three different sources,

about 200,000 a year.

-We receive a small portion
from Belgium,
-OK.

we receive some from Mexico,

but our biggest portion
comes from Japan.

OK, so now I'm hoping you can
maybe help me connect the dots.

So I'm familiar with the Mirai,
I've been able to drive it,

know it's powered by hydrogen,
fuel cell technology.

What is it that made you want
to partner with a company like

FuelCell Energy and employ
Trigen Station here to support

what's going on at TLS.

Sure, when we started
redesigning our facility

a couple years ago, we knew
there was a need for hydrogen

to fuel the Mirai.

We believed in fuel
cell technology.

We also had
sustainability goals.

We were looking for a company
that had a shared vision,

and we found FuelCell Energy.

They believed in fuel
cell technology.

They were also able to develop
this Trigen facility that

supplies electricity,
water, and hydrogen to help us

meet our sustainability goals.

Thank you so much for providing
that context.

I'm about to go talk to Paul at
Trigen, and now I feel

much more prepared.

[Tamara]
We're at Toyota Logistics
Services in the port of

Long Beach, which uses a Trigen
system to generate

renewable energy.

I'm going to talk to
Paul Fukumoto, Director,

Tech and Product Solutions at
FuelCell Energy.

-Hey there.
-Hi, I'm Paul.

I'm Tamara, and it is great to
meet you and see Trigen.

Can you tell me about
fuel cell technology?

It's a fuel cell, which actually
is made out of thin plates

which are made into a stack.

And that stack looks like
a deck of cards, imagine that.

-So imagine that those are now
heated, running hot.
-[Tamara] Mm-hmm.

We're feeding it gas.

That gas is now converted into
hydrogen and electricity,

and that's called
an electrochemical reaction.

Very cool.

So what is it about
this particular facility

that's unique?

We call it Trigen, because
there's three products --

electricity,
hydrogen, and water.

That electricity is sent to
Toyota and also the local grid

for grid support.

Then the hydrogen that we make
is actually used to fuel cars

and trucks, and then the water
that we recover is also

delivered to Toyota to
wash cars.

OK, so that's what comes out
of the system.

You mentioned the gas that goes
into the system.

What's the source for that?

[Paul] Well, coming in is what
we call biogas.

[Tamara] OK, wait, what exactly
is biogas?

Because I hear that term tossed
around a lot.

[Paul] That's actually derived
from what we call organic waste.

So that organic waste is
a product of how we live.

So we have what we call
the sewer gas

and the organic waste gas.

That's combined together,
put in what they call

a digester, and that
creates the methane.

And then that is cleaned up
and upgraded and is delivered

over here via a pipeline.

And we use that for
renewable feedstock.

So how then does this system
compare when it comes to

environmental impact to more
traditional energy

generation systems?
-It's much cleaner.

First, with electrochemical
reaction, it has near zero air

emissions, so you have
clean air.
-Mm-hmm.

And then the resulting
hydrogen and electricity,

that's renewable because
we're using that biogas.

It's also low carbon because
you're avoiding

those emissions.

And then of course,
don't forget the water

with the Trigen.

That water is used to
wash cars.

[Tamara]
Well, it certainly makes sense
now as to why TLS thought that

you would be a good partner for
their sustainability efforts.

So, tell me a little bit more
about Toyota sustainability

efforts across all of
your facilities.

-Well, we have various types of
facilities in the U.S.
-[Tamara] Yeah.

which require different types
of solutions.

So, we have to look at
different types of technologies
and

opportunities to meet
those needs such as solar,

wind, virtual power purchase
agreements, and hydrogen.

In terms of hydrogen,
Trigen made so much sense as

the optimal solution for us
here at Long Beach.

[Tamara]
It totally makes sense that
you need different solutions

for different conditions.

What was it about
the conditions here that made

Trigen the right solution?

Well Trigen produces
renewable electricity,

renewable hydrogen,
and usable water that

we use here.
-All of that is in play here.

[Mark] Right, and what's really
cool is that Trigen makes this

facility Toyota's first port
processing facility in

the world that's powered by
100% on site

generated electricity.
-[Tamara] Are you serious?

-[Mark] It's fantastic.
-I did not realize that.

We need to meet back up with
Jeff, and he's got to give me

a bigger tour of this place.
-Well let's go.

All right.

So I love getting this
behind-the-scenes look at how

everything is put together.

What exactly am I looking
at here?

This is our conveyor line.

This is where we install
accessories that we talked

about earlier.
-Got it.

OK, and how long does each
station have to

install its accessory?

[Jeff] Each station is
74 seconds, so they complete

whatever accessories are
installed within that time.

All right, very, very quick --
and what are the numbers that
I'm seeing?

Yeah, the numbers we use to kind
of identify each workstation,

helps us troubleshoot if
there's a problem,

we know where to go quickly to
help resolve that problem.

[Tamara] OK, gotcha.

Well, I'd like to bring
the conversation back around

to sustainability.

You know, we were talking
before about the fact that this

whole facility is powered by
renewable energy, which is

amazing by the way.

I see things like lights,
that's an obvious power need,

but what else in this facility
requires power that someone

like me might not be aware of?

[Jeff] Yeah, sure,
the conveyor itself is powered

by renewable energy.
-[Tamara] Uh-huh.

We have fans throughout
the facility powered by energy,

and also even the tools that
are used in this installation

are powered by
renewable energy.

So when you were redesigning
this place, it really came down

to looking at so many different
pieces and how is that going to

fit together?
-Exactly.

So we've talked about renewable
hydrogen, we've talked about

renewable electricity,
but you also mention that

a product of this process is
usable water.

Where does that come into
play here?

The water gets used in
our car wash.

-Oh, can I take a look?
-Sure, let's go.

OK.

[Tamara]
Toyota Logistics Services in
the Port of Long Beach is

Toyota's first port vehicle
facility in the world to be

powered by on site generated
100% renewable electricity.

Hey, Tamara, instead of
watching the car wash,

you want to go through it?
-Yeah, let's do it.

Let's go.

Before we take off to see
the car wash, we need to stop

and get some fuel.
-Oh, OK. Makes sense.

All right.
Let's go.

This is our Mirai.

It's our hydrogen fuel cell
electric vehicle.

[Tamara] All right.

Well, I assume since this is
a Mirai, that means

I'm gonna get to see the
light duty fueling station.

That's right.

We do have a light duty station
here on site.

It's closed to the public,
but we use it to

fuel our Mirais.

But there are light duty
stations all around

Southern California,
and that infrastructure is part

of what makes this a good
market for the Mirai, right?

[Jeff] That's correct.

And do you have a heavy duty
fueling station?

We have one just adjacent
to us.

It's for Class A trucks that
operate in and around

the port operation.

So Tamara, this is our light
duty hydrogen station that

we use to fuel the Mirai.
You want to see how it works?

-Yeah, absolutely.
-First thing you do is remove
this cap,

Mm-hmm.

pick up the nozzle,

you engage the nozzle,

press the start button,

and now it's pumping.

[automated voice at pump]
The nozzle may require
a gentle pull

to release from the vehicle.

[Tamara]
And there's a nice lady
who tells you when you're

all done.
-Exactly.

OK, so what's next
in the process?

Next is the car wash.

We wash the car prior to
shipment to the dealer.

All right, let's head
over there.

All right.

So Trigen supplies
the electricity to the car wash

and also supplies water up to
about 1,400 gallons a day.

Supplements our current usage
in the car wash.

[Tamara]
Oh wow, so that is reusable
water that is really keeping it

a cyclical kind of a thing.
-Exactly.

What is it about car washes,
whether you're like 8 or 80,

there's just something fun
about going inside them?

[Jeff] They're the greatest.

[Tamara]
After the car wash, I met back
up with Mark Yamauchi to talk

more about Toyota's
sustainability efforts.

Well, I really enjoyed getting
to see the Trigen facility,

and it made me curious about
how it feeds into not just

sustainability efforts here for
TLS, but overall for Toyota.

Well, like our diversified
approach to vehicle

electrification, we need to
take a portfolio approach to

meeting the needs
of our operations.

So different conditions require
different solutions?

Optimizing solutions.

Something else I was thinking
about was sustainability.

Obviously, everyone knows this
is important now, but where does

that value fit into
and interact with Toyota's

core values?

Well, one of our main core
values is respect for people.

As such, we want to make
a positive impact on society

and the communities in
which we operate.

Therefore, we really need to
reduce our carbon footprint.

Well I am gonna get a chance
now to see that in action

because I'm actually gonna
head over to

the Port of Long Beach,
where I'm gonna talk

with Heather Tomley,

who is the Managing Director
of Planning

and Environmental Affairs.
-That's great.

Yeah, I'm really excited to
talk to her.

I'm at the Port of Long Beach,
where I'm going to talk to

Heather Tomley,
their Managing Director of

Planning and Environmental
Affairs, about how Toyota is

reducing its carbon footprint.

Hey, Tamara --
hi, nice to meet you.

-I'm Heather.
-It's nice to meet you.

I was just admiring the massive
operation you have going on

here at the port.
-Yeah, absolutely.

The Port of Long Beach is
actually the second busiest

container port in
the United States.

Wow, so about how much passes
through on a regular basis,

how many folks do you employ?

So last year, we had more than
eight million boxes that moved

through the Port of Long Beach,
and we're responsible for one

in five jobs in the city of
Long Beach, and we're a massive

economic engine that helps
support jobs throughout

the entire nation.
-OK, wow.

So between all the stuff that
needs to get to other places

and between even just employees
coming and going to work every

day, there's an opportunity
here for a massive

environmental impact.
-Yeah, that's right.

So that's all part
of the balance.

So while we're helping to
support the economy,

we're helping to move cargo
into the United States,

we also at the same time need
to make sure that we're

addressing the environmental
impacts

that are associated with that.

So right now, what would
you say are the top

sustainability goals for
the Port of Long Beach?

So the Port of Long Beach
adopted our green port policy

back in 2005, and since then,
we've been working on a variety

of different air quality
improvement programs,

water quality improvement
programs, and we've had a lot

of success.

It's great to hear that you've
had a green policy in place

for so long.

I'm imagining things have
changed as technology

has advanced.

Where does something like TLS
fit into the picture?

So it's as we're moving forward
with programs and projects in

partnership with our tenants,
like TLS, that we're able to

move towards sustainable
solutions, decarbonization.

With their Trigen system,
they've been able to implement

a project that helps to
supply their energy,

their hydrogen fuel,
and their water for

their car wash --
and so it's a good,

creative, innovative,
sustainable solution.

Well, it's exciting to be here
and see how all

of the pieces fit together.

Thank you so much for taking
the time to talk with me.

Absolutely, it was my pleasure.

[Tamara]
Next, we explored if what TLS is
doing at the Port of Long Beach

is a scalable solution for
other industries.

We were just talking about how
cool it's been for me to see

all of this in action,
and as, you know,

we kind of wrap things up,

I was wondering, now that this
is up and running, do you think

that this is a scalable
solution for sustainability for

other industries?

Yes it is, we have many of
these systems deployed

around the world.

This one is a unique one,
but everything we build is

scalable and it's fit to
the application and project.

OK, well speaking of
particular projects,

particular applications,
now that you're seeing this in

action, do you think that this
is a sustainability solution

for Toyota for other things?

First of its kind in the world,
this application here is

perfect for Long Beach.

We're looking at how it might
apply to other locations on

a case by case basis.

When you have challenges on
a long-term project,

knowing that you're on the same
team, you're coming from that

same place of shared values can
really get you through

those challenges.

And that is a learning about
innovation that I'm excited to

take back to George
at Inventionland.

-Fantastic.
-That's great.

[Tamara] At Inventionland,
George Davison is meeting with

Jackie Birdsall,
Senior Engineering Manager at

Toyota North America.

Hi, Jackie, welcome
to Inventionland.

Hi, thank you so much for
having me.

Well, I was waiting for you to
get here because I got these

from your team -- I thought
you could talk about them

a little bit.
-Yeah, actually this is
one fuel cell.

So these are called
the gas diffusion layers,

or the bipolar plates.

And these are what's sandwiched
together to create a single

fuel cell.

And then that is what is put
into one of these

fuel cell systems.

So you stack a bunch of
fuel cells together.

It creates what's called
a fuel cell stack.

And then we combine that with
all of the power electronics

with the air compressors,
with the hydrogen pumps,

and that creates a fuel cell
system that then can create as

much power that you need to
drive anything with all

electric devices.

And so I got this picture,
and along with it, this one

came, and I thought this is tied
to that fuel cell system, and is

this how we power it up?
-That's correct.

This is a fuel cell energy,
it's called a Trigen system.

It creates hydrogen from biogas
in California.

That hydrogen is then used to
fill hydrogen tanks on board of

our vehicles or at
a stationary generator.

And then these fuel cells use
that hydrogen, combine it with

oxygen to create water,
and a byproduct of that

is electricity.
-Ah, clean power.

OK, so we like the idea of
clean power.

Can you talk with me a little
bit about, what are we gonna see

in tomorrow's world concerning
clean power?

It's a great question.

Toyota's position is that
we believe in a portfolio of

solutions to get us to clean
power, including both battery

electric and fuel cell
electric technology,

and hydrogen's really gonna be
a key component for both.

Well, that's a great
noble cause.

Thanks for everything
you're doing, Jackie.

Thank you.

Well, everybody,
that's another edition of

"Tomorrow's World Today."
Tune in next time.

Now, Jackie, I need to get all
those secrets out of you, as to

what's going on
in that R&D lab.

[George] And remember,
tomorrow's world is where

inspiration and creation drive
innovation in production.