Mazda looking into 'essential' biofuels

Tuesday, 7 April 2020

Watch: Mazda claims to have cleaned up the petrol engine with its SkyActiv-X technology.

Mazda isn't convinced the combustion engine is dead yet and is backing research into algae-based biofuels.

The Japanese manufacturer reckons that internal combustion engines combined with some form of electrification will still account for some 95 per cent of the vehicles it produces in 2030. Thus, continued effort in reducing combustion emissions are needed and that could come in the form of renewable fuel.

When burnt, Mazda says algae biofuel only releases CO2 only releases that was absorbed from the atmosphere by the algae as it grew.

Mazda may be dragging its heels a little bit when it comes to electrification, with its first electric vehicle due here sometime this year, but it's certainly trying to clean up the combustion side of things.

Not only that but algae fuels can be farmed on land unsuitable for agriculture, can be grown with minimal impact on freshwater resources, can be produced using saline and wastewater, have a high flash point, and are biodegradable and relatively harmless to the environment if spilled.

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The first sampling we'll get of those efforts will be the SkyActiv-X engine, due this year in the Mazda3 Takami hatch and CX-30 crossover.

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The next steps involve improving productivity and reducing costs. To that end, Mazda is pitching in technical support to the combination of research into genome editing by Hiroshima University and plant physiology by the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

Biofuels fall into Mazda's 'Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030' long-term technology development programme. The company is committed to reducing its average 'Well-to-Wheel' CO2 emissions to 50 per cent of 2010 levels by 2030, and to 90 per cent by 2050.

Other efforts in the programme include fuel management in the powertrain, like start-stop and cylinder deactivation, Mazda's 24V mild-hybrid system and the 2.0-litre 134kW Skyactiv-X 'Spark Controlled Compression Ignition' petrol engine which aims to combine the benefits of diesel and petrol engines in one for improved power and fewer emissions. Oh, don't forget the return of the rotary as a range extender.

We'll get our first taste of the Skyactiv-X engines sometime this year when the Mazda3 Takami hatch and CX-30 crossover dot down. When that may be is a good question, given coronavirus is still around and rankling plans.