Within 50 minutes of drive from central Tokyo, the Kawasaki King Skyfront Tokyo Rei Hotel is located. The Tokyu Hotels Group has unveiled the world’s first carbon-neutral hotel situated in the city of Kawasaki, entirely powered by hydrogen from waste.
Hydrogen created from plastic waste supplies 30% of the hotels’ energy needs, and food waste generates the other 70%. The Kawasaki King Skyfront Tokyu REI Hotel, in partnership with the Ministry of the Environment’s Regional Cooperation and Low-Carbon Hydrogen Technology Demonstration Project, has taken this initiative to provide power supply through sustainable resources.
The hotel has a hydrogen fuel cell structure, which converts hydrogen into heat and electric power without producing carbon releases with the help of Toshiba’s H2Rex technology. This technology is connected to the hotel by a pipeline, implying a continuous, high-volume supply of hydrogen, and the supply chain remains carbon-free.
The entire supply chain is estimated to produce approximately 80% less carbon dioxide emissions than the use of existing energy sources.
Kawasaki King Skyfront Tokyo Rei Hotel uses plastic waste that is acquired locally from the city of Kawasaki and plastics produced by the hotel, including used room amenities such as toothbrushes and hair combs.
In addition, the ethically minded hotel, located in Kawasaki within the Greater Tokyo area, has also introduced a sustainable way to grow its own produce through hydroponics and LED light source photosynthesis. For instance, it grows lettuce in its reception area that is pesticide-free and is harvestable every 30-40 days.
Kawasaki King Hotel supplies 300,000 cubic nanometres of hydrogen per year by reusing its waste, generating 450,000 kWh of power sufficient for 82 households of four people per day per year.
The hotel collaborates with a nearby power plant that uses food waste to produce fuel through methane-fermentation by microorganisms. The hotel purchases the electricity generated by the food waste from the JFE Group through their “Zero Emissions Plan.” This is the first time in Japan that food waste generated electricity is powering a hotel, compromising the other 70% of the energy stored in the fuel cells and the hydrogen to implement environment-friendly hotel operations.
“We are extremely proud to announce innovations within the Kawasaki Hotel,” says Noriyuki Mizutani, general manager of the Kawasaki King Skyfront Tokyu Rei Hotel. “Across the entire Tokyu Hotel Group, our focus is to create a sustainable society for our employees, guests, and surrounding community. The Kawasaki hotel is at the forefront of ethical innovation, and we hope to see more hotels follow.”