Asahi Newspaper and Panasonic Collaborate in Transportation Using Low-Emission Vehicles

The Asahi Shimbun Company, a major Japanese newspaper company, and Panasonic Corp., a major electronic product manufacturer, began joint transportation with the aim of shortening deadhead travel distance and to reduce environmental impacts by using low-emission vehicles on April 19, 2010.

Through this initiative, the trucks that transport the morning papers from the printing facility in Kanagawa Prefecture to delivery agents in Shizuoka Prefecture will carry Panasonic's products on their way back. Panasonic sends out repaired products and replacement parts to Kanagawa Prefecture and the Tokyo area from its Shizuoka facility, where it manufactures mobile phones. In this way, the trucks that transport newspapers are used again instead of running empty.

Asahi has been using medium-sized trucks that run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) since 2001 for transportation of newspapers from Tokyo and Kanagawa to Shizuoka area. In 2007, it introduced biodiesel trucks that run on fuel derived from waste cooking oil.

With the increased efficiency achieved by joint transportation together with the reduction of 17,490 kilometers of deadhead travel distance, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are expected to be reduced by 51 tons annually. In addition, by using CNG and biodiesel trucks, a further 20-ton reduction in CO2 emissions is expected, as compared to using ordinary diesel trucks. Thus, as a result of these initiatives, annual CO2 emissions will be reduced by a total of 71 tons.

Panasonic and Tomy Collaborate in Transportation with CNG-Powered Trucks (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/029686.html
Panasonic global site
http://panasonic.net/

Posted: 2010/06/29 06:00:15 AM

TAG Energy , Global warming , Manufacturing industry , Non-manufacturing industry , Transportation