Yamaha Motor has announced that it is to establish a new verification testing facility at its Morimachi factory in Japan. The facility will be equipped with a melting furnace and heat treatment furnace using hydrogen gas.
Starting in 2025, Yamaha will focus on developing and verifying techniques for melting aluminum alloy with hydrogen gas. This includes comprehensive testing of the necessary facilities and equipment. By the end of 2026, Yamaha aims to complete the development of these technologies and plans to gradually implement them in its domestic and international casting factories beginning in 2027.
This initiative, says Yamaha, is part of its broader efforts to reduce Scope 1 CO2 emissions across the lifecycles of its products. Currently, the thermal energy required for melting aluminum alloys in the manufacture of cast parts for motorcycles, outboard motors and other products is provided by natural gas and other fossil fuels.
Yamaha says that electrification is not energy-efficient for the melting process due to its high heat requirements, and as a result it is exploring hydrogen energy, which it has already been studying as a means to reduce Scope 3 emissions.
The verification testing will assess the impact of hydrogen gas on quality and develop temperature control techniques using hydrogen burners. Yamaha says it is also considering the introduction of equipment for producing green hydrogen and methanation equipment through joint research with Shizuoka University to produce e-methane without external heat sources.
The company is also working on developing low-cost hydrogen gas production equipment and technologies for capturing and reusing CO2 from exhaust gases.