Factory Energy Conservation

Amid a global focus on the climate change issue, governments around the world and international organizations are stepping up their efforts. For instance, IPCC's fourth report and the G8 Summit held in Heiligendamm Germany advocated “50% reduction of GHG emissions by 2050 compared to a present level, ” and APEC announced the Sydney Declaration aiming for Energy efficiency improvement by 25% in the APEC region by the end of 2030 compared to a 2005 level. More ambitiously, some parties suggest 50% reduction from 1990 level by 2050 to minimize impacts on human society and natural ecosystems caused by possible extreme climate events.

Panasonic supports these concepts from a point of view that drastic GHG reduction by innovative technological development must be achieved to tackle global warming and stabilize a GHG concentration for a long period of time, and the Company aims for contributing to these global initiatives.

Our global target for reducing CO₂ emissions from factories up to fiscal 2008 was to reduce CO₂ emissions per basic unit^*1 by 10% from fiscal 2001 levels by fiscal 2011. In 2008, we were able to reduce emissions by 33%.

In Japan, our industry is seeking to achieve the target^*2 set for fiscal 2011 by the four electrical and electronics-related associations to reduce CO₂ emissions per unit of actual production^*3 by 35% from 1991 levels. In fiscal 2008, Panasonic successfully achieved this target, realizing a 40% reduction from 1991 levels.

• *1 Basic unit = CO₂ emissions / (consolidated sales / Bank of Japan's corporate goods price index (electrical machinery and equipment))
• *2 The Voluntary Action Plan on Global Warming Measures of four electrical and electronics-related associations: Japan Electrical Manufacturers' Association, Japan Electronics & Information Technology Industries Association, Communications and Information Network Association of Japan, and Japan Business Machine and Information System Industries Association.
• *3 Actual production = nominal production / Bank of Japan's corporate goods price index (electrical machinery and equipment)

• * Basis for calculating Panasonic's CO₂ emissions The GHG protocol's CO₂ emissions factors for each country are used for electricity purchased outside Japan.
  The factors of fuels are based on the Guidelines for Calculating Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Businesses (Ver. 2.2) by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan

• * The factors used for purchased electricity are the average of all types of power atthe using end, reported by the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan.
• * CO₂ emissions factors for individual fiscal years are: 0.410 kg CO₂ /kWh (fiscal 1991), 0.421 kg CO₂/kWh (fiscal 2005), and 0.425 kg CO₂/kWh (fiscal 2006 and 2007). The value for fiscal 2008 is 0.41 kg CO₂/kWh .

• * Amount of energy consumption reduced in the current fiscal year (converted to CO₂)/ Amount of energy consumption in the previous fiscal year (converted to CO₂)

We also set an energy conservation rate as an internal indicator for the reduction of CO₂ emissions and exceeded this target. As for greenhouse gases other than CO₂, such as HFCs used as a refrigerant of airconditioners, PFCs and SF₆ used for semiconductor production, we reduced these by approximately 70,000 tons.

Now that we have achieved the targets per basic unit both in Japan and overseas, Panasonic has established new, volume-based targets to replace the previous per basic unit-based targets. In fiscal 2008, we reduced by 0.1% in gross volume. On a global basis, we are aiming for reduction of CO₂ emissions from manufacturing sites by 300,000-ton in fiscal 2010 from fiscal 2007 levels, an for a reduction in fiscal 2011 to a level of fiscal 2001.

To be specific, we intend to promote the reduction of factory CO₂ emissions by reviewing the Three-Year CO₂ Emissions Reduction Plans to be prepared by each factory.

In April 2008, a Corporate CO₂ Emissions Reduction Promoting Committee was established. The committee collects and accumulates information and experiences concerning the energy conservation programs being implemented at Panasonic factories. A number of model initiatives are implemented cross-divisionally to achieve a substantial CO₂ emission reduction on a global basis.

In addition, we have stepped up our efforts by focusing on semiconductor and PDP drive production divisions, and manufacturing sites in China, where an increase in CO₂ emissions is evident. An energyconservation technical support team comprising experts at Panasonic and group subsidiaries, are dispatched to those divisions and sites requiring intensive initiatives to reinforce measures for CO₂ reductions.

Moreover, we have listed specific energy conservation check items, such as use of heat insulating paint on roofs, heat retention for steam pipework, and heat recovery from waste gas. Such check items are compiled into the 33 Energy Conservation Items and being used for comprehensive inspections at all our factories.

Panasonic's energy management centers on measurement assessments, which incorporate energy management techniques stipulated in the Energy Conservation Law into our Environmental Management System. Energy consumption is measured with special instruments to make the usage status visible, to make energy losses obvious, and to promote remedial measures. For production lines, for example, time-series changes in power consumption per product unit are analyzed to detect energy losses from excess or idle operations. Energy consumption at the production line can be improved by addressing these problems. We will proactively introduce FEMS as the first step toward reducing gross CO₂ emission volumes.

• * FEMS: Factory Energy Management System

Taking advantage of many factories in China and Southeast Asia, we are promoting efforts to reduce CO₂ emissions on a global level, by employing the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). In fiscal 2005, we started our energy conservation initiatives at factories in Malaysia to be registered as CDM projects. In March 2007, we became the first Japanese company to receive approval for its CDM project from the United Nations in the category of energy conservation at factories. The project is now well underway.

• * Clean Development Mechanism: A method authorized by the Kyoto Protocol, whereby industrialized nations undertake initiatives to reduce GHG emissions through rendering financial and technical assistance to developing countries.