Yokohama Rubber Cuts Greenhouse Gas Emissions 8% from 1990 Levels

On July 18, 2006, Yokohama Rubber Co., a major Japanese tire manufacturer, announced that during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005 (January-March 2006) it had achieved an 8-percent reduction in its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its production in Japan compared to 1990 levels, surpassing Japan's national reduction target of 6 percent under the Kyoto Protocol.

Yokohama Rubber subsequently reached the point of a 10 percent reduction below 1990 levels during the first quarter of fiscal 2006 (April-June 2006), suggesting that the full-year emissions in fiscal 2006 will again surpass the national target of a 6 percent reduction from 1990 levels. The company's efforts in fiscal 2005 alone resulted in a reduction equivalent to 4.2 percent of 1990 levels.

In line with the Kyoto Protocol that came into force in February 2005, the company has been committed to reduce its GHG emissions, aiming at a 12 percent or more reduction from 1990 levels by 2010. In 2005, it developed a new calculation system to determine the exact amount of GHG emissions from every one of its manufacturing plants. The company has also set up a special committee for global warming measures to promote various environmental initiatives.

The company's reduction efforts are focused on (1) introducing high-efficiency cogeneration systems that utilize both heat and electricity, with total efficiency of 85 percent or more; (2) shifting factories' power generation fuels from heavy oil to natural gas; and (3) intensive energy conservation efforts. At three of its domestic factories, cogeneration systems have already been installed, and installation is scheduled at another factory by the end of 2006. The company is making an ongoing effort to replace perfluorocarbons (PFCs), used in cleaning solvents, and to develop new energy-efficient products using the "top-runner" approach, which uses the highest level of energy efficiency available on the market as the minimum standard for new product development.

http://www.yrc.co.jp/english/index.html

Posted: 2006/10/26 09:43:34 AM
Japanese version