THE JAPAN NEWS
 
XANGRI-LA, Brazil (Jiji Press) — Honda Motor Co. said Wednesday it started operating a wind power plant in Brazil on the same day.
 
Honda became the first automaker in Brazil, the fourth largest vehicle market in the world, to operate a wind farm.
 
The plant will generate about 95,000 megawatt-hours of electricity a year, which is equivalent to power needed for Honda’s annual auto production of 140,000 units in the Latin American country, the major Japanese automaker said.
 
At a cost of 100 million reals, Honda built nine wind turbines in Xangri-la in the southern Brazil state of Rio Grande do Sul.
 
The use of wind power contributes to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and transmitting generated electricity through a public power grid network is expected to allow a Honda auto plant in the state of Sao Paulo to save its power charges by 40-45 percent.
 
The company will consider building another wind power plant, according to officials.
 
Issao Mizoguchi, president of a Honda local unit, said the company hopes to reduce a negative impact of vehicle production on the environment by actively using renewable energy.
 
Honda aims to reduce CO2 emissions from its vehicles worldwide by 30 percent from the 2000 level by 2020 and is working to cut CO2 emissions from all business activities including production.