Historian Yuval Noah Harari opens our eyes to his bestseller Sapiens. From animals to gods: a brief history of mankind . This provocative book offers us his biological and social perspective on the evolution of the human being , a progress that has had devastating consequences for the planet and for ourselves. Among its pages we find a space for reflection and guilt but also an opportunity for learning. If that’s possible. It seems that Toyota’s top executives should read this essay to become part of its presidential body. From that table, with very high aspirations, strategies such as the Toyota 2050 Environmental Challenge emerge, a commitment by the firm to reduce the impact of the carbon footprint.
Thirty years from now they hope to generate a positive net impact through a program that not only includes vehicles, but also the cities of the future. Hydrogen is the driving force behind these challenges that seek to build a society in harmony with nature, placing the human being and the planet as protagonists. The first step is to build zero-CO2 models, a path that the new Toyota Mirai will be a part of. A model powered by fuel cells, a system that only requires hydrogen to create electricity and expel water. This challenge must be accompanied by an environment that allows a complete life cycle without emissions, from its manufacture to the hydrogen refueling must be clean processes.
The last steps involve the whole of society. At that point, the vehicles will have ceased to be an individual property to become a connecting element. The reliability of Toyota models carries an added challenge, they must be able to modify the software of their vehicles taking advantage of their strengths: durability, access to spare parts and economic repair. All this without forgetting that transportation is only part of the problem. Industrialization, consumerism and gentrification must be stopped . In this section, the Japanese firm has closed an agreement with NTT Corporation to develop the cities of the future. Its pilot project, the Woven City, will begin construction in 2021 .
