Appliance Industry
Matsushita Electric (Panasonic) Announces Analysis of Energy Savings of Electronic Appliances in an Entire Household
By Press
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
Nov 12, 2003, 9:50am

— Reduced environmental impact while increased use of appliances —

Tokyo, Japan—Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (MEI), best known for its Panasonic brand consumer electronics and digital communications products, announced its results of its research comparing energy consumption by household electronic appliances in 1990 and 2003. Over the 13-year period, the number of electronic appliances used in an average household has increased approximately 22 percent, while total household energy consumption has been reduced by about 40 percent. Matsushita will disclose the research findings at the "Panasonic Environmental Forum 2003" to be held from November 12 to 15 in Tokyo.
In support of the company's policy to produce electronic and electrical products that are environmentally friendly, Matsushita has calculated the environmental impact caused by most of the electronic appliances in a household. Producing a wide-range of household goods has let the company execute this industry-first examination by comparing past and present data for most household electronic appliances.

Over the past 13 years, the number of electronic appliances owned by an average household has increased by 22 percent with a number of new product categories gaining popularity in Japanese households, including personal computers, cellular phones, and dishwashers/dryers. These products bring benefits to consumers ranging from access to enormous volumes of information to shortened time spent on housework. Despite the increased number of products, the amount of total energy consumption has been reduced by about 40 percent reducing the impact of greenhouse gas emissions in the earth's environment.

In line with the company's efforts to reduce impact on the environment, Matsushita has been choosing recyclable materials for its products. As a result, the amount of non-recyclable or virgin resources in 2003 has been reduced one percent compared to the amount in1990.

This analysis proves the company's vision that it is possible for the people to benefit from the increased usage of home appliances while reducing environmental impact. "We call this vision the 'New Prosperity' in which we would like to improve the quality of life while reducing environmental impact," commented Hidetsugu Otsuru, Matsushita Electric's Managing Director of responsible for environmental affairs.

The data was derived by calculating greenhouse gas emissions and non-recyclable or virgin resources used in products in a model household with an average household income, consisting of a grandmother, a father working at a company, a full-time mother, and a grade-school child. A group of 67 kinds of Matsushita products dating from 1990 using electricity, gas, and kerosene as power sources were compared to a group of 82 products from 2003 when used in a house with total floor space of 136.9 square meters

In this analysis, the amount of environmental impact by each product is calculated from the total energy consumption divided by the number of years of the product life cycle (including manufacturing, usage, and disposal.) That amount is then converted into the amount of CO2 emissions likely to be caused by its energy consumption.

Comparison of 1990/2003 Data

Number of electric/electronic appliances used in a household
1990(1) - 67 items
2003 - 82 items
Change rate - Increased by 22%

Greenhouse gas emissions(2)
1990(1) - 8,089 kg - CO2 per year
2003 - 4,833 kg - CO2 per year
Change rate - Decreased by 40%

Use of non-recyclable or virgin resources
1990(1) - 219 kg per year
2003 - 217 kg per year
Change rate - Decreased by 1%

1. The benchmark year set in the Kyoto Protocol
2. Calculated from amount of total energy consumption by the appliances

With these test results clarifying that electronic appliances can make a difference in energy consumption, Matsushita Electric will continue to develop products with environmentally friendly features as well as offer sustainable ideas to raise consumers' awareness about the need to reduce the environmental impact from the perspective of an entire household.

About Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., best known for its Panasonic brand name, is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronics products for a wide range of consumer, business, and industrial needs. Based in Osaka, Japan, the company recorded consolidated sales of US$61.7 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2003. Matsushita's shares are listed on the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Sapporo, New York (NYSE: MC), Pacific, Euronext Amsterdam, Euronext Paris, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf stock exchanges.

For more information, please visit the Matsushita web site at http://www.panasonic.co.jp/global/top.html

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