Initiatives for SDGs

Company-wide Initiatives

• 1Set carbon neutrality (CN)
  goals in Fujikin Incorporated

  On May 15, 2024, Fujikin set a goal of “zero greenhouse gas emissions from Fujikin　Incorporated by FY2040.” We set the goals below for FY2030 as milestones to achieve the CN goal by FY2040.
  
  1. We will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions (excluding SF6* ) by 90% in FY2030 from FY2013.
  
  2. Also, we will reduce our SF6 emissions by 95% in FY2030 from FY2013.
  
  At the end of March 2024, we succeeded in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) protocol Scope 2** emissions by approximately 5% from FY2013. We are continuing to work actively to introduce additional renewable sources of energy such as solar power and to reduce energy consumption in our factories.
  
  Since FY2018, we have been making efforts to reduce usage of SF6, which is the main cause of our Scope 1** GHG emissions. Furthermore, devices that can collect used SF6 gas were installed in FY2023 and are currently being prepared for operation.
  
  We will greatly reduce Scope 1 GHG emissions by operating collection devices and reducing SF6 emissions into the atmosphere as much as possible.

  

  
  * sulfur hexafluoride
  ** Scope 1: Direct emissions of greenhouse gas by the business itself (e.g. fuel combustion, industrial processes).
  Scope 2: Indirect emissions of electricity, heat and vapor that result from energy which is purchased from other companies.

  (Updated on May 27, 2024.)

  2Grasping company-wide
  greenhouse gas emissions

  In FY2023, with the support of Mizuho Research and Technology, we estimated the emissions produced by Fujikin Incorporated in FY2022, including not only Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, but also Scope 3 in the GHG protocol, which specifies widely recognized rules for understanding greenhouse gas emissions. The results of this initiative are listed below. (Refer to Figure1 for an overview of Scope1~3.) In addition, Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions produced by Fujikin Incorporated are listed from 2013 (Figure 4).
  
  As an initiative in FY2024, we plan to calculate FY2023 group-wide GHG emissions, including overseas subsidiaries. At that time, Scope 3 GHG emissions may significantly change compared to FY2023 as we work to develop the data maintenance system and refine our calculation methods.

  

  

  ■Overview of GHG emissions from Fujikin Incorporated

  Fujikin Incorporated produced 462,000 tCO2e of GHG emissions in FY 2022, including Scopes 1, 2 and 3.
  The total consisted of 89,000 tCO2e Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions, and 373,000 tCO2e Scope 3 emissions (80.7% of the total).
  The majority of Scopes 1 and 2 were from Scope 1, SF6 emissions, while the majority of Scope 3 were emissions from the production stage of raw materials and parts that we procured.

  

  ■Breakdown of Scope 3

  Among Scope 3 emissions (373,000 tCO2e in total), emissions from category 1 (purchased products and services) was approximately 84% of the total, and emissions from category 2 (capital goods) was about 14%.

  

  ■Breakdown of Category 1

  According to the breakdown of Category 1, 83% of GHG emissions are from the production process of hot-rolled steel that contains stainless steel as the main material of the product (Figure 3).
  Next comes valves and regulators purchased from partner companies, and the third-largest amount comes from fittings and piping purchased from partner companies.

  

  

  * The above Figures 2 and 3 and Table 1 are current estimates and the figures may fluctuate significantly by developing the data maintenance system and refining our calculation methods.

  (Updated on March 28, 2024.)

• 3Encourage employees
  to engage in SDG activities

  In FY 2022, we established an award system (SDG Award) for recognizing employees who carry out SDG activities, and we encourage employees (individuals and groups) to promote SDG activities.
  We continued to accept applications in 2023 under the themes of promoting the introduction of renewable energy, energy saving activities, and recycling activities. At the end of March, we convened a selection committee to decide on the winners of “The Best Performance Awards” and “The Outstanding Performance Awards.”
  The Best Performance Awards were for the Tohoku Factory’s “First clean-up activity in Oshu City, Iwate Prefecture” and for Tsukuba Advanced Research Center’s “Reduction in the amount of He orders and usage by operating a He Collection Machine” while The Outstanding Performance Awards were presented to the Tohoku Factory for “Introduction of EV tracks as transportation vehicle for parts” and “First Group Blood Donation” (Photos 1 and 2).
  

  

  
  This year, we will continue to raise and strengthen awareness of SDGs throughout the company in order to lead our activities to become more active.

  

  

  (Updated on August 1, 2024.)

  4Environmental related
  indicators of each factory

  Below are the trends of (1) electricity consumption, (2) water usage, and (3) waste emissions as environmental related indicators of three factories (Tsukuba, Osaka, Tohoku) in Fujikin Incorporated.

  

  

  

  

  (Updated on August 1, 2024.)

SDGs promotion activities
at Tsukuba Advanced
Research Center

• 1Use of renewable energy
  for electricity

  Tsukuba Advanced Research Center has installed solar power extensively, but also, in order to use renewable energy for the rest of our needs, we have signed a “Green Basic Plan*” with Tokyo Electric Power Company Energy Partner. As a result, the center has been using non-fossil fuels exclusively since October 2023.
  
  *The Green Basic Plan provides a substantial renewable energy menu that combines average power of all power sources with FIT non-fossil fuel certificates and non-FIT non-fossil fuel certificates designated as renewable energy.

  

  Regarding the installation of solar panels, we installed them on the roof of the main building in 2011, and then on the roof of the special new building in 2018. We also began covering the parking lot with solar panels as the “car port solar” from 2020 (Photo 1). The grid connection was completed in November 2023, and testing is currently underway.

  

  

  In addition, Building M, completed in December 2022, had solar panels installed on the roof in March 2023. (See Photo 2 for the arrangement of the solar panels.)
  
  Finally, six flower-shaped solar panels that are made in America were installed on our premises for the first time in Japan in July 2021 (Photo 3). They can generate 30 or 40 percent more energy than fixed solar panels since they always move toward to the sun from sunrise to sunset. (They can generate 4000 to 6200kwh annually.)

  Total solar power generation capacity was rated as having output of 2645kW in November 2023; it is therefore possible to generate approximately 3.4 million kWh per year.

  

  (Updated on December 26, 2023.)

• 2Other initiatives to
  utilize renewable energy

  The Tsukuba Advanced Research Center uses SF6 gas. We installed equipment to recover used gas in October 2023, and, as a first step, trial operations aiming to recover He gas are currently underway. We are planning to reduce SF6 emissions within FY2024.
  
  Tsukuba Advanced Research Center has also introduced some fuel-cell vehicles and electric vehicles. Specifically, we use one “MIRAI” fuel-cell vehicle from Toyota Motor Corporation as a shuttle service for our customers, two “MiEV” electric minicabs from Mitsubishi Motors Corporation for trips into the neighborhood, and a golf cart from Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. for getting around our premises. We use the flower-type solar generation system for charging these electric cars.

  

  We have also installed solar panels and charging equipment on the roof of the childcare center on our premises (Photo 4). In case of a power outage, the electricity that is generated there will be used for lighting. Moreover, the power stored in our fuel-cell vehicles can also be used as an emergency power source (Photo 5), making it possible to carry on our activities during power outages occurring at night. These vehicles can serve as basic disaster prevention measures.
  
  Completed in October 2017, this facility has been operating as a childcare center for our employees since the following year. We are planning to carry out clean energy demonstration tests of clean energy here to achieve carbon neutrality in the future.

  

  

  (Updated on December 26, 2023.)

• 3Energy Saving Activities

  In parallel with using renewable energy, we are promoting energy saving activities with the help of an energy saving diagnosis carried out in November 2022 by the “energy saving help squad,” which is a Ministry of Economy support project. We received the results of the diagnosis in January 2023.
  Based on this feedback, we have replaced 1,100 fluorescent lights in the special building with LED in March 2024, and the remaining approximately 400 lights will be converted to LED in the future.

  (Updated on August 1, 2024.)

• 4Promoting biodiversity
  with our sturgeon aquaculture business

  We cultivate sturgeon, an endangered species (photo 6), using own unique technology and help protect biodiversity by providing immature sturgeon to local governments and companies.
  Fujikin farms sturgeon using a closed-loop circulation filtration system. We are working on “aquaponics,” which is the method of growing vegetables in water whereby fish excrement is converted to liquid fertilizer by bacteria.
  We are conducting experiments to demonstrate how we can achieve the cultivation of both sturgeon and hydroponics by significantly reducing the frequency of water changes.

  

  We are also proposing cultivation methods that will make further contributions to our SDGs.

  

  

  History of sturgeon farming

  We selected “sturgeon farming” as a theme for moving into an industrial park at the former site of the Tsukuba Expo, and it was approved. In 1989, when the Tsukuba Advanced Research Center began operations, we imported parent fish from the former Soviet Union, built a sturgeon facility and began research into breeding, aquaculture technology and seed production. In 1992, we became the first private company in Japan to succeed in the artificial hatching of sturgeon.
  
  In 1998, we confirmed that adult fish that had been hatched in-house were carrying eggs, which we then successfully hatched artificially. In other words, we were able to produce in-house completely farm raised adult fish that were hatched, matured, and able to produce fry.
  
  The gender of sturgeon can’t be recognized from their appearance. Moreover, it takes at least six or seven years before they produce eggs; however, it is not cost-effective to raise males to the same age. For this reason, we established a unique technology to distinguish sturgeon gender, making it possible to raise only females that have eggs for caviar, while younger males are sold for their as meat.
  
  As a result of these efforts, we began to scale up mass production and sales of fry in 1994, and we also began selling the fish meat to hotels and restaurants in the autumn of the following year. By fiscal year 2020, the total value of shipments had doubled in the ten years since fiscal year 2010. We are helping to revitalize towns and promote local production and consumption by providing fry to sturgeon farmers in 39 prefectures.

  (Updated on August 1, 2024.)

• 5Joint research on highly efficient electrodes
  for water electrolysis equipment

  Fujikin established a joint research course with Niigata University’s engineering department on April 1, 2022, with the aim of establishing manufacturing and evaluation technologies for nickel sulfide-based electrode catalysts for large-scale highly efficient water electrolysis equipment.
  
  Specifically, in order to realize the fabrication of a 30cm square electrode catalyst by FY2024, we will establish the manufacturing technology and implement the confirmation of the performance of the electrodes (including durability). Planning for the development of the application technology using these electrode catalysts will start from FY2025 (Figure 1).

  

  The Takasago Thermal Innovation Center (Photo 7) is actively engaged in open innovation. As the site responsible for large-scale initiatives, it has a branch of the Tsukuba R&D Center inside the research space. Moreover, it is used as an experimental base.
  
  We are currently in the process of installing the necessary experimental equipment, with a gas chromatograph, infrared spectrophotometer and X-ray diffraction device (Photo 8) having been installed in December 2022.

  

  

  

  In addition, in order to connect the results of the joint research to business, we visited Fukushima Renewable Energy Research Institute of National Institute of AIST and Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field (FH2R) of NEDO to learn about current hydrogen research.

(Updated on August 1, 2024.)

SDGs promotion activities
at Tohoku Factory

• 1Use of renewable energy
  for electricity

  The Tohoku Factory has adopted the “Iwate Reconstruction Power Hydroelectric Premium” provided by Tohoku Electric Power since June 2022 (Photo1).
  
  Also, installation of solar panels on the roof of the main building and new building started in May 2024. We plan on putting them to use soon for self-consumption solar power generation that also incorporates a power storage system.

  

  

  (Updated on August 1, 2024.)

• 2Introduction of the first
  small-sized battery-electric truck in Iwate Prefecture

  After using diesel cars for transportation at our site, we introduced a small-sized battery-electric truck in January 2024 –– the first of its kind in Iwate Prefecture!
  
  The exterior design combines light blue and green, which expresses the concept of“Protecting the environment of Iwate and the Earth” (Photo 2).

  

  

  (Updated on January 16, 2024.)

• 3Complete removal of
  propane gas

  Propane gas is a major factor in carbon dioxide emissions. Though we used to use propane gas for gas air conditioners, water heaters, and gas stoves, we have reduced use to zero since June 2024, and propane gas cylinders are to be removed by the end of October.

  

  (Updated on August 1, 2024.)

• 4Tohoku Factory work on
  some energy saving a
  ctivities

  In parallel with using renewable energy, the Tohoku factory has been promoting energy-saving activities.
  
  ・Nine outdoor lights around the main and new building parking lots were replaced with LED light from mercury lamps on November 13 2023.
  ・In order to visualize electricity usage, we are considering installing power meters on power receiving equipment, distribution boards, etc.
  ・We have decided on where to install power meters on the power receiving equipment, and installation is currently taking place.

  

  (Updated on August 1, 2024.)

• 5Community Contribution Activities with Tohoku Factory employees
  and technical intern trainees.

  On June 1, 2024, Tohoku factory employees and technical intern trainees picked up trash around the city road in Oshu City, Iwate Prefecture as a part of local community contribution activities for the second time since last October.

  

  It is said that Fujikin has the largest number of employees in the southern inland area in Iwate Prefecture. Since technical intern trainees have few opportunities to interact with local people in their daily life, this activity was done for the first time in together with Oshu City and other cities last year. The purpose of this activity is to create a more comfortable working environment by becoming more familiar with the local community.
  
  55 people gathered on the day, 27 of whom were technical intern trainees and specified skilled workers from Indonesia and Vietnam. Starting at the Oshu City Esashi General Branch Office, they were first divided into four groups (Photo 3). Wearing blue Fujikin vests and saying “hello” to pedestrians, the four groups collected a total of 27kg of trash within around 2 hours (Photo 4).

  

  

  (Updated on August 1, 2024.)

• 6Group blood donations

  On July 8, 2024, the Tohoku Factory held its second group blood drive, and 20 employees donated blood (Photo 5 and 6). The total amount of donated blood was 8000ml, which helped Oshu City achieve its daily target.

  

  

(Updated on September 1, 2024).

SDGs promotion activities at
Osaka Factory and Osaka R&D Center

• 1Purchase of electricity derived from
  renewable energy sources

  Because of the limited site area and other reasons, it is difficult to install solar panels at Osaka Factory–Higashiosaka, Osaka Factory–Kashiwara, and Osaka R&D Center. Therefore, we have signed a “Renewable Energy ECO Plan” (Photo 1) with Kansai Electric Power and have been using CO2-free electric power derived from renewable energy since August 2022.

  

• 2 Initiatives for the utilization of
  renewable energy

  Osaka Factory has introduced one fuel-cell vehicle, and three forklifts were replaced by electric ones in 2022. In addition, one compact car was replaced by an electric vehicle on August 23,2023. (The model is a Mitsubishi Motors Minicab, “MiEV”.)

• 3Promoting energy
  saving activities

  In parallel with using renewable energy, we are also promoting steady energy-saving activities. Below are some examples.
  Measures taken by Osaka Factory to prevent temperature rises include, laying artificial grass on the roof and applying thermal barrier coating on the building walls. In addition, we are installing energy-saving ventilation equipment since regular ventilation is necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
  
  We signed Kansai Electric Power’s “Winter e-response special contract”* for four contracts at Osaka Factory–Kashiwara, four contracts at Osaka Factory–Higashiosaka, and one contract at Osaka R&D Center.

*Winter e-response special contract…This is a system in which the power company provides an electricity bill discount according to the amount of power saved in conjunction with Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s, energy saving promotion project.

(Updated on December 26, 2023.)