By March 2022, Panasonic’s "zero-carbon factories" in the world have expanded to nine, including Panasonic Environmental Protection Technology Center Co., Ltd. located in Hyogo Prefecture, Panasonic Brazil’s San Jose factory, Manaus factory and Esteire Ma factory, and Panasonic’s factory in Costa Rica.
Panasonic Energy (Wuxi) Co., Ltd. is the first "zero carbon factory" of Panasonic Group in China.
Our reporter | Cui Liyong
If you don’t accumulate a thousand miles, you can’t become a river without accumulating a small stream. The grand goal of carbon neutrality in peak carbon dioxide emissions is related to the overall situation of continuously promoting the adjustment of industrial structure and energy structure, and also requires the initiative of all sectors of society to carve out a new path of green development through innovation in all aspects.
Under the background of accelerating the dual-carbon, domestic and foreign enterprises keep pace with the times, leading enterprises take the lead in building a "zero-carbon factory" on a global scale, and multinational giants such as Panasonic, Danone and L ‘Oreal have successively laid out.
"Zero-carbon factory" means that the factory has a comprehensive zero carbon emission performance through technical measures such as energy saving and emission reduction in the manufacturing process. China’s industrial carbon emissions account for nearly 70% of the total carbon emissions, and the most basic unit of industrial green transformation is the factory. Undoubtedly, the "zero-carbon factory" has a benchmark and model significance for the double-carbon work in the manufacturing field, and its rules and methods are worth learning from similar enterprises.
How to build a "zero carbon factory"? What are the secrets of reducing carbon in factories? The relevant person in charge of Panasonic Group said in an exclusive interview with this reporter a few days ago: "It is very difficult to achieve carbon neutrality without sacrificing income, which requires many innovative and reasonable efforts."
In April 2021, Panasonic Energy (Wuxi) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Wuxi Factory") announced the realization of the Group’s first "zero carbon factory" in China. The calculation results show that the carbon dioxide emission of the plant is about 44,000 tons in 2020, which is virtually zero. It is reported that Matsushita Group has set a goal of achieving zero emissions from global factories by 2030. At present, Panasonic has three "zero carbon factories" in China.
The relevant person in charge told this reporter that the energy-saving and emission-reduction measures of the factory are to measure the electricity consumption of the equipment first, and then make a carbon reduction plan according to the situation of each project.
"There is no shortcut to achieving carbon neutrality in peak carbon dioxide emissions." The person in charge said that both from the overall development analysis of the enterprise and from the construction of a "zero-carbon factory", "throttling" and "open source" and the combination of the two are the main ways to achieve the goal of double carbon.
"Throttling" means that Panasonic reduces carbon emissions through various means.
Wuxi factory introduces advanced energy-saving technology, and uses LED lighting to make the energy consumption in the product manufacturing process lower. In particular, the factory has adopted an intelligent control system to automatically adjust the power of the original equipment according to the production situation, so as to meet the requirements of production conditions and ensure energy saving.
"Open source" means that Panasonic creates and uses more renewable energy while reducing the use of energy.
The imported equipment is not enough to provide electricity for the whole factory, so the insufficient part is absorbed by allocating renewable energy from outside, for example, purchasing I-REC certificate, offsetting the quota of carbon dioxide emission from fossil fuel sources, and renting the roof of photovoltaic power generation.
The relevant person in charge told this reporter that "throttling" and "open source" are not two completely separate parts. In fact, they often overlap with each other and combine carbon reduction with high-level production to play a role.
Wuxi factory has introduced automatic assembly line, replaced traditional manual work and visual inspection with dual-arm robot and image inspection system, and achieved high-quality and efficient product manufacturing innovation.
It is understood that Wuxi factory is not satisfied with the carbon reduction achievements that have been made. Panasonic has previously announced that it plans to carry out Panasonic’s first comprehensive energy utilization project of hydrogen fuel cell in China in the factory of Panasonic Energy (Wuxi) Co., Ltd., and it is expected to use the 5kW pure hydrogen fuel cell launched by Panasonic to build a fuel cell system and explore and discuss the creation mode of renewable energy.
According to reports, the hydrogen fuel cell can generate electricity through the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, and it is a clean energy product with high efficiency without emitting carbon dioxide. Since 1999, Panasonic has continuously invested in the use of hydrogen energy and the technical research and development of fuel cells; In 2020, Panasonic conducted in-depth research on China’s localization development needs, and cooperated with many domestic partners to explore fuel cell solutions that meet the actual situation and China’s needs.
It is understood that apart from Wuxi factory, Panasonic has a "zero carbon factory" in Beijing. Matsushita Electric Machinery (Beijing) Co., Ltd. won the certificate of carbon neutrality pilot project issued by Beijing Economic Development Zone through energy-saving transformation and the use of renewable energy, especially the establishment of the group’s first HIT-PV power station.
By March 2022, Panasonic’s "zero-carbon factories" in the world have expanded to nine, including Panasonic Environmental Protection Technology Center Co., Ltd. in Hyogo Prefecture, Panasonic Brazil’s San Jose factory, Manaus factory and Esteire Ma factory, and Panasonic’s factory in Costa Rica.
According to reports, the "zero-carbon factory" is an important link on Panasonic’s road to promoting green production and living and achieving the goal of sustainable development of the whole society. As early as more than 30 years ago, Panasonic began to solve environmental problems such as greenhouse gas emissions and resource depletion.
In April 2022, Panasonic Group released the global environmental vision of "Panasonic GREEN IMPACT". Strive to reduce carbon dioxide emissions of global energy in 2019 by about 1%, or about 300 million tons of carbon dioxide, calculated by the International Energy Agency (IEA) by 2050 through various business activities. By 2030, the carbon dioxide emissions of all public institutions will be virtually zero.
"Panasonic GREEN IMPACT" is promoted in China with the slogan of "Green Wisdom Makes the Future". Tetsuro Benzhi, the representative director and global vice president of Matsushita Holding Co., Ltd., once said that Matsushita plans to add another 10 "zero carbon factories" in China by the end of 2023.
The reporter found that the net sales of Panasonic Group in fiscal year 2021 exceeded 50 billion US dollars. As of March 3, 2022, Panasonic Group has 532 companies distributed all over the world. "Zero carbon emissions from global factories" means that in less than 10 years, Panasonic will make considerable efforts to this end and achieve great carbon reduction results.
"There is no way for factories in all regions to achieve zero carbon emissions in the same way." The relevant person in charge told this reporter that "in the process of building a’ zero-carbon factory’, the energy-saving measures implemented are different according to the different characteristics of each factory and the different policies of the location. At the same time, the renewable energy that can be used flexibly varies according to regional characteristics. "
The person in charge told the reporter that in the process of building a "zero-carbon factory", Panasonic Group has accumulated rich experience. At the same time, "it is not enough to accumulate experience, and continuous improvement is a more important topic. In addition, while making full use of the experience of various model factories, we need to learn from advanced examples inside and outside the company, and we also need each stronghold to try to innovate and apply its own unique measures, so that it can spread to all parts of the world, which will be the next challenge. "
(China Development Network)
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