July 24, 2024 – As the 2024 Paris Olympics draw near, a controversy has erupted over the choice of official vehicles. A group of 120 scientists, engineers, and scholars have penned an open letter urging the Olympic organizers to reconsider their decision to use Toyota’s Mirai as the official car. Their concern? The hydrogen-powered vehicle undermines the green credentials of the event.
Toyota is set to provide 500 Mirai cars and 10 buses, all running on hydrogen fuel cells, along with 1150 electric vehicles for athlete transportation. While hydrogen fuel cells are known for their zero-emission properties, emitting only water as a byproduct, the experts’ opposition to their use at the Olympics might seem surprising.
The crux of their argument lies in the source of the hydrogen. According to the group, 96% of the world’s hydrogen is still derived from fossil fuels like methane. This makes most hydrogen-powered vehicles more polluting than pure electric cars, albeit marginally cleaner than traditional internal combustion engines.
Their letter highlights that the use of Toyota’s hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is not in line with the ‘net-zero emission’ goal of the Paris Olympics. Organizers aim to host the “most environmentally friendly Olympics ever,” with a goal to reduce the carbon footprint of the event by half compared to the levels in the early 2010s. To achieve this, they plan to rely entirely on renewable energy sources.
In light of this, the experts are calling for a shift to pure electric vehicles to better align with the sustainability objectives of the Paris Olympics.
