Panasonic – Building zero-CO2 Factories Around the World, Hydrogen Included

Panasonic – Building zero-CO2 factories around the world, hydrogen included.

In 2018, the Panasonic Eco Technology Center, a household appliance recycling factory of the Panasonic Group, and Panasonic Energy Belgium, a dry battery factory, turned their factories in Europe and Japan into two of Panasonic’s first zero-CO2 factories.

Panasonic do Brasil also remodeled its three factories in Extrema, Manaus, and São José into zero-CO2 factories, which are the first of their kind in the Americas.

In 2019, Panasonic Centroamericana, a dry battery factory in Costa Rica, inaugurated the nation’s first private-public project with the national government, in which the factory was entirely supplied with power generated from renewable energy sources.

The factory received a certification of “100% renewable power factory” as it achieved zero-CO2 operation. We will continue to build zero-CO2 factories in our production sites around the world.

Specific initiatives are as follows.

(1) Continuous energy conservation activities with energy conservation equipment

• LED lighting: installed in about 60% of all facilities (from 2018 to 2019)
• Heat shield film: Introduced to about 80% of all facilities (introduction period: 2019 to 2020)

(2) Switching to 100% renewable energy sources for all procured power

• Switching 100% to biomass power generation, which is non-fossil fuel-derived energy

(3) Utilizing J-Credit System to Offset CO₂ Emissions from Fossil Fuels

• CO₂ emissions from district heating in the coastal subcenter area are offset by carbon offsetting through the use of the J-Credit system.

(4) Reduce CO₂ emissions through operational reforms of site activities

• Making seminars and events online and releasing virtual show room content (Reducing the use of air conditioning and lighting in venues through the above initiatives)

(5) Reducing CO₂ emissions through employee work style reforms

• Reducing the number of employees through work style reforms such as telecommuting
  (Through these efforts, we have reduced the utilization rate of air conditioning and lighting in offices and building facilities.)

(6) Demonstration operation of pure hydrogen fuel cells that generate electricity with hydrogen, which is attracting attention as a clean energy source

• Creation of clean energy by introducing pure hydrogen fuel cells manufactured in our company (scheduled to start operation in January 2021)

READ the latest news shaping the hydrogen market at Hydrogen Central

Building zero-CO2 factories around the world, Semptember 7, 2021