To address global warming due to climate change in the field of manufacturing, DENSO (1) promotes technological development in production processes; (2) ensures thorough employee participation in energy conservation, from departments that supply energy to those that use it; and (3) utilizes renewable energy. By working proactively to reduce CO₂ in these ways, we aim to halve our energy use by fiscal 2026 (halving CO₂ emissions per unit compared with fiscal 2013), while intensifying energy conservation activities with a view to achieving carbon neutrality by 2035.

In terms of DANTOTSU factory activities, since 2012, DENSO has been engaged in technological developments to realize factories with stronger competitive capabilities through production sites promoting competitiveness and improvements, lean and highly productive automation, and synchronous integrated production with no inactivity. To achieve ENERGY 1/2, reduced energy consumption related to production is being promoted across the entire DENSO Group through the global deployment of technological developments including 1/N facilities development and automation.

Based on the idea that “energy for production is not fixed infrastructure but another component to be controlled,” DENSO is working to establish a system for the utilization and supply of just the right amount of energy at the necessary time through energy JIT activities.

In fiscal 2010, emissions per unit worsened as a result of the plunge in production we experienced due to the global financial crisis. To address this situation, we have worked to create an energy-saving manufacturing structure that is resilient in the face of variations in production. We now include energy conservation as a basic tenet of our facility design and production activities.

In 2020 and 2021, emissions per unit temporarily worsened due to the decline in production brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, by the end of the fiscal year, emissions per unit improved 13% as a result of strengthening such measures as comprehensive JIT inspections of energy supply divisions and the consolidation and idle stoppage of production lines as well as implementing thorough, organization-wide energy-saving activities that covered everything from energy supply to use.

As part of its factory improvement efforts, DENSO has successfully rolled out energy-conserving efforts across its factories. Accordingly, we enthusiastically apply for the Energy Conservation Grand Prize Awards, sponsored by the Energy Conservation Center, Japan, with cases of improvements implemented at our factories that are highly effective in saving energy and have the potential for horizontal deployment. Since fiscal 2010, we have won prizes at the Energy Conservation Grand Prize Awards for 12 consecutive years.

We support introduction activities to encourage the proliferation of Energy JIT throughout the DENSO Group.
Specifically, in fiscal 2021, we renewed the Perfect Energy Factory (PEF), a collection of case studies of generic and highly economical energy-saving improvements on the supply and production sides, including Energy JIT activities, and are promoting activities to re-examine them at Group companies in Japan and overseas. We have visited 21 Group companies in Japan since fiscal 2022, contributing to a reduction of approximately 3,000 tons of CO₂ per year.

Amid the recent acceleration of the global shift toward decarbonization, DENSO has begun to implement initiatives aimed at realizing carbon neutrality in its manufacturing. Efforts include strengthening energy-saving activities through the use of Factory-IoT and the introduction of digitalization, as well as switching to electricity derived from renewable energy and establishing technologies to capture, recycle, store, and reuse CO₂.

For example, we have developed a CO₂ circulation plant,* a facility designed to capture and circulate CO₂, using technologies we have refined through development in the automotive domain, and have begun verification tests at the Anjo Plant, in Aichi Prefecture. We will introduce CO₂ recycling plants at the Anjo Plant, Hirose Plant, Nishio Plant, and DENSO FUKUSHIMA CORPORATION—our four designated model plants in Japan—and gradually expand the number of CO₂ circulation plants to 130 worldwide. We will work on further technological developments for the CO₂ recycling plants geared toward their social implementation, thus contributing to realizing carbon neutrality throughout the entire Company.

In fiscal 2022, we achieved 100% renewable energy at the Anjo Plant (electric and gas), six bases in Europe (electric), and one base in Asia (electric), through measures such as the installation of solar power generation facilities and the use of carbon offset certificates.

Note: Technology developed in collaboration with Toyota Central R&D Labs, Inc.