Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture and Toyota have announced plans to build a hydrogen-powered smart city.

The ‘city of the future‘ project involves various partners including Asahi Group, Aeon, and Isuzu Motors and will make use of technologies produced in Fukushima Prefecture, to meet the goal of carbon neutrality.

The project will see the build of an implementation model for hydrogen-based deliveries at supermarkets and convenience stores, which play a role both as essential urban infrastructure and as evacuation areas in times of disaster.

The first model will be designed for a city with a population of 300,000 people, before applying the model to similar-sized cities nationwide.

The implementation model will make use of hydrogen produced at multiple sites in Fukushima, including Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field, introduce several fuel cell trucks for deliveries, optimise operational management and hydrogen refilling schedules through the use of connected technologies, and carry out energy management that caters to the prevailing local conditions.

In addition, the partnership will operate FC kitchen cars and medical cars, and use hydrogen at stores and plants in Fukushima to reduce supply chain carbon emissions.