SUBARU’s Carbon-Neutral Outreach Class with President Osaki
Sustainability Journal
SUBARU’s Carbon-Neutral Outreach Class with President Osaki
On July 6 and 7, 2025, SUBARU visited the Rifu Second Elementary School in Rifu Town, Miyagi Prefecture to hold an outreach class on the topic of carbon neutrality for 68 fifth-year students, sponsored by the Super Taikyu MIRAI Organization (STMO)*1.
- *1
- STMO is an organization that supports motorsports, the automobile industry, and mobility society through events and projects aimed at promoting the sound growth of motorsports
Day 1: Experience a Super Taikyu Race
On the first day, students went to Sportsland SUGO in Miyagi Prefecture to watch the Super Taikyu Series*2. In 2022, SUBARU made its debut in the Super Taikyu Series, taking on the challenge of expanding fuel options utilizing internal combustion engines with vehicles powered by carbon-neutral fuel. We are cultivating engineers through agile development that involves repeated hypothesis testing and verification in the short cycles required in motorsports, and we are working to create ever-better cars based on motorsports while aiming to realize a carbon-neutral society through our participation in the Super Taikyu Series.
In addition to watching the race, students were able to experience the fascination of a Super Taikyu race through a variety of experiences not ordinarily available to them, such as riding in a bus on the usually off-limits course and observing the process of installing race tires.
- *2
- The Super Taikyu Series is Japan’s largest pro-am automobile race, predating the N1 Endurance Race, which was established in 1990. Racing vehicles are modified from production cars, with a wide variety of vehicles ranging from FIA GT3s to modified cars with small engines of 1500 cc or less. In 2021, the new ST-Q class was created to allow manufacturer-developed vehicles to participate, leading to competition from R&D vehicles that use carbon-neutral fuels such as hydrogen fuel and biodiesel fuel
Day 2: Carbon Neutral Class and Demo Drive
The following day’s class was held at the Rifu Second Elementary School. Representative Director, President and CEO Osaki of SUBARU also joined classes and gave the following remarks, asking the students to consider how we could protect the planet from a carbon-neutral perspective. Next, Masahito Motoi, representative of SUBARU’s Super Taikyu team, and professional racing drivers Takuto Iguchi and Hideki Yamauchi, who also compete in the Super GT races, joined as lecturers. They presented to the students about SUBARU’s ambitious racecars, how carbon-neutral fuel is being used in automobiles, and environmental technologies SUBARU is working on.
After the classroom lecture, students moved to the school grounds for a demonstration drive with a vehicle running on carbon-neutral fuel. Student representatives rode alongside drivers Iguchi and Yamauchi, enjoying a rare driving experience with a professional racer.
Students shared their impressions, which included:
“I was able to learn about efforts to reduce carbon dioxide.”
“I found out about devices for cars that prevent global warming.”
“The main thing I took from it was that even though global warming is very scary, it can be stopped.”
“I thought it was great that carbon-neutral fuels are environmentally friendly, but the car can run just like with gasoline.”
SUBARU will continue to work with STMO to provide outreach classes for children who will lead the next generation.