Panasonic is moving forward with its Green Impact Plan to reduce carbon emissions, expand heat pump production in Europe, and power up by 100% renewables.
The company announced progress on its plan, including how it is reducing its CO2 emissions and preventing CO2 emissions in various sectors of society, from factories to homes. Namely, the company announced its entire enterprise will reduce its carbon emissions from Scope 1 and 2 to zero by 2030. This includes its 250 production sites and factories, as well as all office locations and the energy used for these sites.
By 2050, the company projects it will decarbonize its entire value chain, including Scope 3 emissions and the entire lifetime of its products. Panasonic develops technologies and solutions across several industries, including consumer electronics, housing, automotive, industry, communications, and energy.
“Last year at IFA, we made a commitment to accelerate our support for carbon neutrality and the circular economy in Europe,” Masahiro Shinada, CEO of Panasonic Corporation, said in a statement. “Our goal is to balance individual well-being with global sustainability, and we have been working hard to bring this vision to life and be your best partner to embrace these values.”
The company says it will use existing technologies and business areas, plus develop new ones, to avoid carbon emissions in society. Panasonic Group companies are currently responsible for around 110 million tons of CO2 emissions per year across the entire value chain, including Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. The company aims to reduce and avoid more than 300 million tons of carbon emissions, or about 1% of the current total global carbon emissions, by 2050.
The company is putting a big focus on reducing emissions at its factories. In 2021, Panasonic had only seven factories worldwide with zero emissions and is aiming to have 37 by 2025. However, the company is ahead of its goal, with 28 zero-carbon emission factories and large-scale sites already existing as of March 2023, and more on the way.
Panasonic is also contributing to meeting Europe’s goals of the Paris Climate Agreement when it comes to using alternatives to fossil fuels for heating buildings, such as using heat pumps. Panasonic has seen its heat pump sales rise fourfold from 2019 to 2022, and demand is expected to grow tenfold by 2030.
To meet this demand, Panasonic announced it will expand its production facility in Pilsen, Czech Republic, and produce the new Aquarea L series of air-to-water heat pump entirely in Europe in the future. Plus, the company said it will use the natural refrigerant R290 in the Aquarea L series, a climate-friendlier product compared to other refrigerants with a low Global Warming Potential of 3.
In addition, Panasonic is piloting hydrogen fuel cell technology at its plant in Kusatsu, Japan. The company is also contributing in the residential sector and has sold 240,000 fuel cell systems in Japan and Europe. The systems use natural gas because there is no green hydrogen grid yet, but their efficiency saves around 1.4 million tons of CO2 emissions per system per year. Panasonic plans to invest nearly $165 million to further develop the technology in Japan and introduce pilot plants in Europe, as well as expand to buildings, commercial facilities, and other areas of life.