Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (MMC), a major Japanese automaker, announced on May 25, 2007, that the Power-Saving Air Conditioner jointly developed with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) had won one of the 2007 Climate Protection Awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA awards are made to organizations, companies, and governmental institutions around the world in recognition of exceptional contributions and technological achievements in the field of global climate protection. The award was established by the EPA in 1998 and 17 winners were selected in 2007.

In the joint project, MHI developed a new compressor and other components and undertook developmental testing of the system. MMC fitted the air conditioner to a Mitsubishi Outlander on-road SUV model, improved the system's efficiency and undertook practical testing. Their effort results in a significant reduction of power consumption in automotive air conditioning systems, an achievement recognized by the award.

The newly developed system improves air conditioner efficiency by 30 percent, the target rate of the "Improved Mobile Air Conditioning (I-MAC)" research program that was launched by EPA and the Society of Automobile Engineers (SAE) in the U.S. in 2004.

MMC will introduce an Outlander model equipped with the Power-saving Air Conditioner onto the North American market in the fall of 2007.

http://media.mitsubishi-motors.com/pressrelease/e/corporate/detail1636.html
http://www.epa.gov/appdstar/awards/2007winners.html

Posted: 2007/09/13 08:09:34 AM
Japanese version

TAG Energy , Global warming , Manufacturing industry , Technology