Honda's commitment to green motoring won it a place at the Brussels EU Green Week - one of only two carmakers at the event, reports Daniel Attwood
Espousing your green credentials is part and parcel of being a car manufacturer. If you can't prove you produce an environmentally friendly vehicle, you must at least be saying you plan to. All of the world's major manufacturers are investing substantial sums on alternative technologies - two of the largest carmakers, GM and Ford, have both said that research into alternative fuel sources and engines is now their largest single R&D expense.
And this is all so that we can continue to drive cars and they can continue to make money.
But some manufacturers appear more committed than others to the goal of sustainable emission-free personal transport. And one of the leaders is Honda.
It was Honda (not Toyota) which was the first to launch a mainstream hybrid car - the Insight - in 1999. Despite its age, the Insight still produces the lowest CO2 emissions from a production car in the world - just 80g per kilometre.
The Insight's engine also received the International Engine of the year award for six consecutive years, a performance never achieved before.
Today Honda offers hybrid versions of its Civic here and also the Accord in the US. And it confirmed at Green Week that within two years it will introduce a small hybrid car - about the size of the Jazz - to complement the Civic.
It is this on-going commitment to sustainable transport that won the Japanese manufacturer a place at the EU Green Week, albeit alongside fellow country mate, Toyota. It is interesting that the only two carmakers at a European event celebrating environmental progress in industry were from outside Europe.
Honda deservedly won a place at the event. Its commitment to sustainable transport is undeniable. Environmental responsibility is embedded in the Honda philosophy. Thomas Brachmann, the head of technical PR at Honda R&D Europe, sums up the company's commitment best at a workshop held during the week to explain its many environmental strategies.
"As a responsible company, we have developed and are actively implementing our environmental policy with the aim to preserve our environment for society as a whole, as well as for future generations.
"Projections of future mobility and vehicles indicate that today's transport system is not sustainable in the long-term with regards to CO2 and energy security," he says.
While hydrogen fuel cell cars, which produce no harmful emissions, are the ultimate goal for carmakers in the short to medium-term, Honda has opted for hybrid technology as well as improving current petrol and diesel engines.
"Honda took strategic decisions to actively develop next generation green powertrains, such as hybrid and fuel cell vehicles, and to go into clean power generation," explains Brachmann.
This approach of not only manufacturing green cars, but also offering home power generation plants to recharge a car's batteries, is one few carmakers have signed up to.
"Honda has also decided to invest in the area of sustainable energy production, to contribute to innovation and technological progress and to ensure clean mobility," says Brachmann.
This has involved creating Honda Home Energy Stations that allow fuelling of a hydrogen vehicle at home, while also generating electricity and hot water.
The company is investigating two options: using natural gas to create hydrogen and using fuel cells to provide electricity and hot water for the home, as well as power for a fuel cell car. The second idea is to create hydrogen from the electrolysis of water using home solar panels.
"Both methods could provide the new value of home refuelling, and may ultimately contribute to lower energy costs and stable energy supplies." Indeed, calculations indicate a potential CO2 reduction of 40 per cent per household.
Hybrid is another area that Honda is a world leader in. Its Insight, launched eight years ago, was the first to couple an electric motor to a petrol engine.
Since then, Honda has launched two further generations of hybrids and is committed to continuing to develop this technology, but only for certain vehicles. "We believe hybridisation is optimally applied to smaller vehicles," explains Brachmann. "Hybrid systems based on petrol engines should be installed on smaller cars, and diesel engines should be applied to larger cars.
"Accordingly, we are developing an all-new, purpose-built hybrid vehicle, scheduled for introduction later this decade, that will meet the needs of a family, at a price beneath the Civic Hybrid."
Honda is also improving current engine technology. Fifteen years ago it launched the VTEC-E engine - the first of an engine generation designed for fuel efficiency improvements. This then evolved into the i-VTEC engine. Now Honda has the 1.8-litre i-VTEC engine that produces 10 per cent less CO2 than the original engine. Add hybrid technology to this, and the 1.8-litre engine boasts a 30 per cent improvement over the original VTEC-E engine.
It could be argued that Honda is doing what any company would do to protect its marketshare. As fossil fuels become scarcer, demand for cars will fall unless an alternative fuel source is found. However, Honda is adamant that it is not investing billions of euro on alternative power sources just to protect its business.
Filip Sergeys, spokesman for Honda Motor Europe, explains: "As a global company, and as a commercial company, we believe that we have a responsibility towards society," he says. "Our vision for 2010 is striving to become a company that society wants to exist.
"The jury is out there, and we hope that you can appreciate the efforts that we are doing to contribute to a more sustainable society." The organisers of the EU Green Week were clearly convinced.