Toyota Motor Sales has announced it will begin using renewable energy sources to power its facilities in California. The company's Torrance and Irvine properties will purchase electricity from a mix of renewable sources including solar, wind, geothermal steam, biomass, or water. The company also plans to switch over its Long Beach port and its auto parts-supply building in Ontario to renewable electricity. Toyota plans to eventually use renewable energy at all of its manufacturing facilities in California, including its General Motors joint-venture facility in Fremont.
"Toyota has a responsibility to the environment that runs beyond building and selling clean, efficient, and high quality trucks and cars," says Yoshi Ishizaka, Toyota Motor Sales chief executive. "We also must reevaluate every part of our operations from recycling waste paper to purchasing renewable-resource electricity."
Toyota's decision to switch to renewable energy is expected to cost the company an additional $1 million a year.
