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Our viewpoint of the issues

We work to reduce global CO2 emissions through improved productivity in all manufacturing processes, including product planning, production, sales, services, and recycling.

Within the manufacturing processes, CO2 emissions caused by production activities are particularly high, and we have recognized that this is an issue that needs priority attention.

In the last three years, up to FY2007, we have been able to reduce CO2 emissions by 120,000 tons, but we are now accelerating our initiatives with the aim of reducing emissions in the next three years to FY2010 by 300,000 tons.

Examples of Manufacturing

Electronic components

A good example of effective reduction of CO2 emissions in production activities is the introduction of energy-conserving equipment.

By switching from rotary-type to modular-type mounting machines for electronic components, we have been able to halve both the power consumption and space required for the equipment, and reduce the CO2 emissions from each machine by 50%.

Similarly, changing over from hydraulic-type to motorized-type mounting machines results in a CO2 emission reduction of about 60%.

Semiconductor wafers 300mm in diameter mass-produced through finer processing to a reduced, 45nm line-width

Innovations in manufacturing technology, such as increasing the number of PDP panels produced from single substrates, and finer semiconductor processing, has led to both improved productivity and major reductions in CO2 emissions.

Moving onto logistics, methods to deliver products directly to a location close to the consumer markets -- in this case, delivering directly to Tokyo from Shanghai -- show how on-land transportation within Japan can be eliminated, reducing CO2 emissions by about 50%.

We are also actively promoting a modal shift by switching from trucks to railways for transportation, with which we hope to achieve a CO2 emission reduction of 80%.

"eco ideas" Factory Biwako Home Appliances Group integrating five manufacturing sites into the Kusatsu area in Shiga Prefecture

Matsushita Home Appliances Company is integrating its five manufacturing sites into a single site in Kusatsu. Site integration allows space to be saved, and even at a conservative estimate, will lead to a CO2 emission reduction of about 20%.

In PanaHome's main site, the four factories and one shipping site have been integrated into three sites, resulting in a 15% reduction in CO2 emissions in FY2007.

We are also actively working to reduce CO2 emissions in indirect departments.

Energy-conserving lighting equipment

A great deal of energy is consumed in offices, with lighting and air conditioning, but we are promoting a changeover to high-frequency fluorescent lamps, which are more highly efficient than conventional fluorescent lighting and therefore reduce energy consumption.

As for air conditioning, precise control of compressor operations allows energy to be conserved. Engaging in a number of similar initiatives is enabling us to reduce our CO2 emissions further.

The use of IT can also be effective in reducing CO2 emissions. The introduction of web conference allows us to reduce the number of business trips, meaning a reduction in CO2 emissions, for example, of 400 kg per person when eliminating a trip between Osaka and Beijing.
An annual reduction of 300 kg worth of CO2 emissions can also be achieved by eliminating commuting and adopting the telecommuting systems.

• "eco ideas" for Products
• "eco ideas" for Manufacturing
• "eco ideas" for Everybody, Everywhere
• Panasonic's "eco ideas" Strategy TOP

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