On July 1st, Toshiba Corporation's Semiconductor Company and Storage Products Company consolidated to form Semiconductor & Storage Products Company.This page describes previous Semiconductor Company's environmental activities.
Energy Conservation Measures for CO2 Reduction
Energy conservation for CO2 reduction is promoted to help reduction of global warming
Since semiconductor fabrication processes can require high energy consumption, such as air-conditioning a clean room, we have implemented various measures such as designing an energy-efficient clean room and waste heat recovery system during the production processes in order to reduce environmental impact.
Toshiba Semiconductor Company Group has established a Voluntary Plan designed to reduce CO2 emissions per unit of output normalized by deflator*1 by 47% compared to baseline year of 1990 by 2012, in line with the target of Toshiba Group. The reduction rate stood at 70% in FY 2009, and increased efforts are being made for further reductions.
- *1: Emissions per unit of output normalized by deflator: an indicator calculated based on production output normalized by deflator and is considered to indicate CO2 emissions per unit closer to actual value.
- Amount of CO2 emissions per year (1 = 1000 tons), and amount of CO2 emissions per unit of output normalized by deflator index (%)
- CO2 emission coefficient: For fuel and heat, it is based on the Law Concerning the Rational Use of Energy and the Law Concerning the Promotion of the Measures to Cope with Global Warming. (A value provided by the supply company is used as the unit heat quantity of city gases.) For domestic electric power, it is based on the data (generating end) provided by the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan. For overseas electric power, it is based on the data reported from the Japan Electrical Manufacturers' Association.
- (The above data covers all manufacturing sites in Japan and overseas and some parts of non-manufacturing sites)
Pioneering cross-sectional project for energy saving (Clean Room Econology Project)
The Semiconductor Company Group launched the Clean Room Econology Project* in FY 2004 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The project implements not only conventional energy saving in individual power systems or facilities but also expertise gathered across the organization and combined through a collaboration by production engineers, production equipment manufacturers, and other facilities and equipment manufacturers. Various energy saving measures, such as the installation of an energy-efficient clean room, waste heat recovery system, and efficiency improvement of air-conditioning units through thermal simulation, have been promoted in the project.
In FY 2009, we succeeded in reducing energy usage by a total of the equivalent of 20,000 tons of CO2, compared to FY 2008. We did this by achieving higher efficiency in air-conditioning by internal circulation of hot air inside the clean room and by introducing inverters to the coolant circulation pumps in the manufacturing machinery.
Toshiba Semiconductor Company's Endeavor to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emission. “Clean Room Econology Project”
- *: Econology is a word coined to express the idea of using technology to reduce both facility management costs and greenhouse effect gas emissions.
Econology = Economy + Ecology + Technology
Participation in Greenhouse Gas Reduction Investment Projects and Emission Credit Program
Since 2007, Semiconductor Company Group has participated in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which was set up under the Kyoto Protocol to allow investments to be made for projects that reduce emissions in developing countries, in return for certified emission reduction (CER) credits. This mechanism complements activities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in one's own country.
By 2013, Semiconductor Company plans to invest a cumulative total of about US$ 3 million in the Japan Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which manages projects. Semiconductor Company expects to receive a total of about 200 thousand tons of CO2 emission equivalents in credits by 2013.
As shown above, if Country “B” supports greenhouse gas emission reduction projects conducted by Country “A”, CER credits are issued according to the amount reduced through the project in Country A, and the amount is counted as the supplemental allowance of Country “B”.
On July 1st, Toshiba Corporation's Semiconductor Company and Storage Products Company consolidated to form Semiconductor & Storage Products Company.This page describes previous Semiconductor Company's environmental activities.