Yokohama Rubber Co., a major Japanese tire manufacturer, introduced two cogeneration units fueled by city gas into its main factory in Mie Prefecture, and started operation in January 2006. Two of the company's other plants are already equipped with such cogeneration systems. Switching from heavy oil to city gas results in a significant reduction in sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. With these units, the company expects to reduce CO2 emissions by 22 percent from the previous year's levels.

Yokohama Rubber introduced the units as a joint project with an energy service company (ESCO). The combined output of the units is 14,460 kilowatts, and the maximum power generation efficiency and maximum total energy efficiency are estimated to be 33 percent and 85 percent, respectively. The project was subsidized by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) under its fiscal 2005 subsidy program for improving energy efficiency.

The introduction of cogeneration systems into its tire factories is one of the company's measures to achieve its target of a more than 12 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2010. Cogeneration systems, which generate both electricity and heat, are ideally suited to tire manufacturing, which requires large amounts of steam for vulcanizing rubber. The company is planning to install one more unit at another plant by the end of fiscal 2006.

http://www.yrc.co.jp/english/index.html

Posted: 2006/05/07 10:18:00 PM
Japanese version

TAG Global warming , Manufacturing industry