With the effects of global warming becoming increasingly apparent, preventative measures must be taken now, with not a moment to waste, before it's too late.

Through its energy-saving and energy-creating products, Sharp contributes to a mandatory global initiative that requires industrialized countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions at least 30% by 2020 and calls for worldwide emissions to be reduced at least 50% from 1990 levels by 2050.

We recognize global warming prevention as a pressing issue and are advancing our in-house evaluations of mid/long-term reduction targets and concrete measures for 2050.

The cogeneration system installed at the Kameyama Plant represents an efficient use of energy. It uses city gas to fuel a gas turbine to generate electricity, and the waste heat generated in the process is captured and used as a source of energy for air conditioning and hot-water supply.

This in-house system generates about one third of the total electric power needs of the entire plant, reducing CO2 emissions by about 30,000 tons per year. This system was evaluated by the Japan Cogeneration Center, and in May 2006 received the Energy Conservation Encouragement Award in the 4th Japan Cogeneration Center Award sponsored by that organization.

At the Kameyama Plant, four molten-carbonate fuel cells, which generate power through the reaction of oxygen and hydrogen, have been installed. This fuel cell system is one of the largest systems in Japan, with a capacity of 1,000 kW, and all of its power is used for in-plant manufacturing. Moreover, waste heat from the system is recycled as steam. Annually, this system emits about 3,000 tons less CO2 than would be the case if electricity were purchased. And because this system continues generating power at night and on rainy days, it combines with photovoltaic power for a hybrid system that delivers a stable supply of power.

By fiscal 2005, all lines at the Mie Plant had been equipped with PFC scrubbers. This reduced PFC emissions to less than 10% of what they would be without this equipment. At the Kameyama Plant, scrubbers dissolve PFC, and in some production processes impurities are removed from PFC gas and reused.

Exhaust gas from production equipment containing CF4 or SF6

On the roof of the plant, Sharp-Roxy Corporation (M) Sdn. Bhd. (SRC) built a fence around a cooling tower of air-conditioning equipment to improve cooling efficiency. On the roof of Sharp Electronics (Taiwan) Co., Ltd. (SET), hoses have been installed that disperse recycled water and lower the temperature of the building, thus reducing the energy required for air conditioning.

Sharp first launched R&D on solar cells in 1959, and has worked toward the widespread use and expansion of solar energy for almost half a century.

The estimated amount of electrical power generated in fiscal 2007 by solar cells manufactured by Sharp during the 20-year period from fiscal 1987 to 2006 was approximately 1,870 GWh. This is equivalent to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of approximately 0.77 million t-CO2. See this for details

By fiscal 2006, in an effort to reduce CO2 emissions through the use of renewable energy, Sharp had installed photovoltaic power systems at all of its domestic production sites. Approximately 0.2% of the electricity generated at those sites in 2007 came from renewable energy sources. When Kameyama Plant No. 2 was built, a 5,150-kW photovoltaic power system—the world's largest—was installed. And in cooperation with Kameyama City, Sharp and Cenergy Co. (Chubu Electric Power Group) installed a 200-kW system that floats on a reservoir adjacent to the plant. This was carried out with the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), an independent administrative agency of the Japanese government, as a joint research project for fiscal 2006. Not only does this system generate electricity, but, by covering about one third of the reservoir’s surface and blocking sunlight, it also inhibits water-quality degradation brought on by the growth of algae. Even rainwater accumulating in the pond is put to good use in air conditioning the plant.

Sharp and Kansai Electric will install solar power generation facilities like those at the Kameyama Plant on both Sharp’s buildings and those of other companies at the Sakai Manufacturing Complex (Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan), where operations are scheduled to get under way by March 2010, thus creating an in-complex source of power. The two companies are currently working out the details for running these solar power facilities. While initial output will be approximately 9 MW (9,000 kW), maximum output will reach 18 MW (18,000 kW).

Sharp subsidiaries in the US and Europe have also begun using renewable energy. Click here for details.