Energy Conservation in Products

In Japan, CO₂ emissions from households account for approximately 14% of total CO₂ emissions in the country and these emissions tend to increase year by year. Panasonic is committed to reducing the environmental impact of households by developing and popularizing high energy-saving products and services. We are using the GHG Factor, which represents the GHG efficiency* improvement rate (as compared with fiscal 2001), to measure our contribution to the prevention of global warming through our products and services, and adopted the target values for the GHG Factor as GP accreditation criteria. We will make the criteria even stricter and develop more products with higher GHG efficiency in an enhanced manner, thereby further improving the energy efficiency of our products.

• * GHG efficiency = (Product life × product function)/GHG gas emissions over the entire life cycle

Comparing power consumption for 30*¹ major products sold in fiscal 2008 with those in fiscal 2007, we estimate that we will help reduce the consumption of electricity by 1,901 million kWh and save 41.8 billion yen in customers' electricity costs over the next 10 years. Of 124 products accredited as Superior GPs in fiscal 2008, 79 products were accredited due to improvements in their energy conservation performance. Of these products, 28 products are included in the 13 "Specified Equipment" categories*² in the Law Concerning the Rational Use of Energy. Through these products, we are greatly contributing to energy conservation.

In addition, we are striving to obtain approval for the use of labels that indicate energy conservation performance for products in various countries, And we make effort to help consumers more easily understand energy conservation performance of the products which are not targeted for such labels.

• *1 plasma TVs, LCD TVs, CRT TVs, DVD recorders, SD stereo systems, fax machines, refrigerators, air conditioners, microwave ovens, IH cooking heaters, washing machines and dryers, fully-automatic washing machines, laundry dryers, rice cookers, dish washers & dryers, natural coolant (CO₂) heat pump water heaters, electric thermos pots, electric carpets, vacuum cleaners, heated toilet seats with warm water sprays, electric irons, dehumidifiers, humidifiers, ventilators, air purifiers, bathroom ventilators & dryers, range hoods, fluorescent lamps (evaluated resources only), home-use lighting equipment, and hair dryers.
• *2 Air conditioners, refrigerators, lighting equipment for general households, plasma TVs, LCD TVs, heated toilet seats with warm water sprays, rice cookers, microwave ovens, DVD recorders, PCs, copiers, automatic vending machines, and electric freezers

Reduction of annual power consumption

Reduction of power consumption in standby mode