Tesco/Lotus's owner CP Group partners with Toyota to generate hydrogen from poop

Charoen Pokphand Group (CP) and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) will explore collaboration toward carbon neutrality in Thailand. Both companies are willing to welcome any partners who share the same view.

Since its establishment in 1921, CP has been operating with the core value of three benefits: to country, to people, and to organisation. CP provides accessibility to high quality products and expands its business in Thailand to a wide range of fields, including retail (such as 7-Eleven), distribution, industrial product, and agriculture & livestock.

In the distribution field, CP has been supporting the lives of Thai people by transporting and delivering a variety of products through its wide-ranging operations, considering social, economic and environmental impacts and sustainability practices.

Think of it this way – CP is like the Toyota of the food world. Everything involving food and its distribution involves them, so much so that there's a saying in Thailand that goes, "not a day goes by you're not using something CP's involved in."

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Let alone our northern neighbours, the Group is also involved in businesses internationally, including Malaysia (Lotus's, formerly Tesco, is theirs) and you'll find the CP brand emblazoned the next time you walk through the frozen foods aisle.

In addition, Toyota's business in Thailand has garnered the support of a number of stakeholders including Siam Cement Group, an important local partner for Toyota, and has grown along with the development of Thai society through products, tax payment, employment and technology transfer, while overcoming a number of challenges such as the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the 2011 floods.

Akio Toyoda, President and CEO of Toyota, commented, "The two companies, both of which consider the best for Thailand and the Earth, have agreed to proceed with what we can do now, by using each company's strengths and assets. I believe that taking this crucial step will allow us to be rewarded with the appreciation from the country, and will change the future landscape."

Dhanin Chearavanont, Senior Chairman of C.P. Group, responded, "What President Toyoda and I share is affection and gratitude to Thailand, and both of us very much want to give back to the country. I am delighted that both companies have an opportunity to jointly consider collaboration toward carbon neutrality in Thailand and welcome any companies that share the same carbon neutrality ambitions."

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Specifically, CP and Toyota will explore social implementation in the following three areas:

1. Production of hydrogen using biogas derived from farm wastes (with the focus on economic zones). Farm waste, is a nicer way of saying poop from chicken farms, a business which the CP Group is a giant
2. Introduction of fuel cell delivery trucks into CP's fleet, which are to use the above-mentioned hydrogen (provide a variety of solutions such as BEV and FCEV, considering travel distance and load weight)
3. Efficient logistics by proposing optimised delivery routes through connectivity technology

With these actions being linked with each other, the two companies will proceed with what can be done now, to consistently reduce CO2 emissions throughout the entire process of producing, transporting, and using energy, toward accelerating carbon neutrality.

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