Yamatake Corporation has announced that it has adopted a 2012 target for cutting Yamatake Group 1 CO2 emissions to 6.2% below 2006 levels, as decided at a Board of Directors meeting held earlier. This decision reflects the commitment embodied in the Group’s philosophy – namely, to realize safety, comfort and fulfillment in people's lives and contribute to the global environment through “human-centered automation.”

In August 1996, Yamatake acquired ISO 14001 certification, the international standard for environmental management systems. In addition to the concomitant environmental responsibilities – such as pollution prevention and chemical substance management – that the company is already fulfilling, Yamatake has been actively pursuing a program for reducing CO2 emissions through energy-saving measures designed to help prevent global warming.

2008 marks the start of Phase II, the actual implementation of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, adopted at the Third Conference of the Parties (COP3). Aware of their corporate social responsibilities (CSR), companies in Japan are now more than ever driven by the necessity to cut greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide.

In 2007, an Energy-saving Task Force was set up within the Yamatake Group, drawing on corporate, in-house companies and factory environmental management departments, and also on the in-house companies’ business departments. This team has since set target figures, and formulated plans for CO2 emission reduction and capital investment. Contributing to the global environment is part of the philosophy of the Yamatake Group and, along with CSR, this is behind the decision reached at a Board of Directors meeting to make further energy reductions at factories and offices, aiming to cut total CO2 emissions to 6.2% below 2006 levels by the year 2012. The reason for choosing 2006 emission levels as the baseline is that it has been possible to calculate accurate figures for the total energy used in that year by all of the Group’s business premises for which the target is applicable.

To give an example of the sort of measures to be employed there is the acceleration of infrastructure-related energy saving in factories (lighting, air conditioning, etc.). The Group is also developing ways to save more energy on production lines: improving the efficiency of thermostatic ovens (exhaust heat) and of raw material processing, installing extra heat insulation in factory buildings, and so on.

In offices, several energy-saving measures have been adopted. Members of staff are encouraged to always remember to switch off unwanted lights, including fluorescent lights in locations that do not demand bright illumination, such as store rooms, toilets, corridors and above filing cabinets. They also reduce “standby” power consumption by unplugging the AC chargers for their laptop computers and mobile phones when going home at night. Company-owned cars offer further possibilities: greater fuel efficiency can be achieved by switching to energy-efficient vehicles such as hybrid cars, and by drivers taking care not to start off, accelerate or brake suddenly; switching off the engine when parked is also stressed.

In addition, Yamatake will consider engaging in Japan’s proposed carbon trading scheme 2, an approach to CO2 emissions reduction through credits generated by employing alternative energy sources for electricity – such as solar energy and wind power – and by providing small- and medium-sized enterprises with technologies and know-how, and encouraging them to make use of such alternative energy sources. Also being reviewed are ways to promote CO2 absorption through forestry conservation.

Implementing the Group philosophy of human-centered automation, the Yamatake Group is thus striving to protect the global environment and reduce CO2 emissions.

1 Covered are all domestic factories, offices, service centers, etc. of Yamatake Corporation, Yamatake & Co., Ltd., Yamatake Control Products Co., Ltd., Safety Service Center Co., Ltd., and Taishin Co., Ltd. Reduction targets for Yamatake Care-Net Co., Ltd. and Kimmon Manufacturing Co., Ltd. will be set as soon as the requisite data is available.

2 In exchange for providing small-and medium-sized enterprises with capital investment and technical support for reducing CO2 emissions, large corporations can acquire domestic emission credits equivalent to the reductions achieved in CO2 emissions and power consumption.

Courtesy of Azbil