Panasonic Corp. has announced Green Plan 2018, a multifaceted environmental action plan to be executed by 2018, the year in which it will celebrate its 100th anniversary. By implementing the plan, Panasonic will establish a green energy business with 3 trillion yen (US$ 35billion*) in sales, declared Fumio Ohtsubo, president of Panasonic.
* Original figures are in Japanese yen. The exchange rate is roughly US$1=85 yen.
Fumio Ohtsubo, president of Panasonic, shows the company's very first product, a light bulb socket adaptor—the seed from which the consumer electronics giant grew.
Green Plan 2018 calls for a 120-million-ton reduction in CO2 emissions in the final year of the plan, derived from operations and power-saving products, compared with Panasonic's simulation of what CO2 emissions would be if the company had adopted a business-as-usual approach to emissions from 2005 onward.
The plan also includes actions to improve Panasonic's environmental performance with respect to resource recycling, water consumption, the impact of chemical substances, and conservation of biodiversity. The worthy environmental philosophy Panasonic advocates is only half the story: the red meat is a tough-minded business plan that aims to expand sales of green-related businesses bundled as the "energy systems business" to 3 trillion yen by 2018, which will account for about 30% of Panasonic's sales target for that year.
"I believe what sets Panasonic apart from other global contenders is our unique capability to propose energy management solutions for the entire home, building and town," said Fumio Ohtsubo, president of Panasonic.
As if to highlight this capability, at the CEATEC show now underway at Makuhari, Panasonic is demonstrating its SEG (Smart Energy Gateway) system for smart management of power generation, storage and consumption. The company is positioning SEG at the heart of its budding green business.
Right on cue, completion of the absorption of Sanyo Electric and Panasonic Electric Works by a TOB that closed on October 6 allows Panasonic to secure technologies and products it needs for developing a business based on its "entire home" concept in Japan.
"For the Japanese market, we can grow our business using Sanyo and Panasonic Electric Work's platforms. For global development, it is important to select the right partners," said Ohtsubo.
Panasonic has already started field testing a home energy management system linked to a smart grid in a collaborative project with Danish energy company SEAS-NVE.
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