The New Era of Engines: Toyota, Mazda, and Subaru to Develop Zero-CO2 Emission Internal Combustion Engines

Toyota, Mazda, and Subaru, Japanese automotive companies, have joined forces to develop cutting-edge internal combustion engines that will operate on alternative fuels. This alliance aims to accelerate the design process and reduce costs for developing new engine types, according to Toyota.

Each company within the alliance will focus on developing its own type of engines. Specifically, Toyota will work on inline four-cylinder engines, Mazda on rotary engines, and Subaru on horizontally-opposed engines. Manufacturers believe that this approach will lead to greater innovation.

The new engines will be more compact and carbon-neutral thanks to the use of alternative fuels such as synthetic fuel, biofuel, or liquid hydrogen. Another shared goal of the three companies is the integration of motors, batteries, and other electric drives into the next generation of internal combustion engines.

"In working on the next generation of engines, the three companies will strive not only to improve the autonomous characteristics of the engines but also to optimize their integration with electric drives, leveraging the advantages of each," the automakers said in a joint statement.

It is worth noting that Toyota is currently the world's largest automaker. The company adopts a multi-vector approach to achieving carbon neutrality, developing various types of engines rather than focusing exclusively on electric vehicles.

In the first quarter of 2024, Toyota sold 2.4 million vehicles, of which nearly 40% were gasoline-electric hybrids. Plug-in hybrids, battery electric vehicles, and vehicles with hydrogen engines accounted for only 2.9% of the company's total sales.

It is worth mentioning that The Gaze reported that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, a direct consequence of Russian aggression and subsequent full-scale war in Ukraine, reached 180 million tons.

According to the European Climate Foundation and the Greenhouse Gas Inventory Initiative, the main source of CO2 emissions related to military activities is fuel consumption. The largest emissions volumes are typically associated with the use of aviation kerosene (which may account for over two-thirds of total consumption) and diesel fuel (which may account for about 20% of total consumption).