Home Fuel Cell System Panasonic’s ‘Most Innovative’ Green Product, Says Earth911
The most innovative of Panasonic’s green products is likely the home fuel cell technology that it’s developing, Earth911 said in a study of the green products and initiatives of the “top five global exhibitors” at CES. Panasonic’s home fuel system uses natural gas to generate electricity and heat, and consists of a battery that can store the energy that is generated, the online provider of recycling information said. The product is expected to be available to consumers in one to four years, the report said, quoting a Panasonic official. Earth911 looked at factors relating to corporate social responsibility, recycling and green products of Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, Toshiba and LG.
On the e-waste recycling front, Panasonic surpassed its 2009 goal of opening 400 collection sites in the U.S. and now runs 800 drop-off locations, the report said. Panasonic is a co-founder of MRM, the recycling management company operated by electronics manufacturers. It also is working on “recycling from the back-end,” by “designing for recycling,” so products can be easily disassembled, the report said. Sony, which has a goal to have a “zero environmental footprint” by 2050, is working on a prototype energy storage server made of recycled CDs and DVDs, that charge from the grid during off-peak hours, so consumers can pay less for electricity, it said. The Sony LX900 3D TV was among products that came in for mention because the company says it uses the same power as a 2D TV of the same size, the report said.
Samsung’s Blue Earth cellphone typifies the company’s efforts to address multiple environmental aspects of its products, Earth911 said. The phone, with a solar charging panel and a high-efficiency charger, is free of hazardous materials like phthalates and “embodies a life cycle approach to creating more responsible products,” it said. Samsung also is making smart-grid enabled appliances, the report said. The company’s e-waste program collected more than 50 million pounds since its start in 2008, it said. Panasonic has said it aims to invest $23 billion in green initiatives by 2020.
At CES, Toshiba displayed the Portege R700, what the company calls its greenest laptop, the report noted. The laptop is EPEAT Gold and Energy Star certified and is so designed that it “dissipates heat passively,” requiring minimal use of the fan, it said. Also on show was Toshiba’s most energy-efficient TV and its collection of LED lighting products, it said. A founder of MRM, Toshiba collected 128,500 tons of end-of-life products in 2009, up from 100,300 tons in 2008, the report said. LG showcased at the CES its smart grid-enabled THINQ appliances that allow consumers to monitor their daily energy usage and cost, the report said. The company collected 5 million pounds of e-waste in 2009 in partnership with Waste Management, it said. LG’s membership in the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition will require all LG suppliers to “follow a code of conduct,” Earth911 said. The company plans to give its contractors training and consulting as the move to adopt “management practices consistent with EICC guidelines,” the report quoted LG as saying.
Earth911’s “scorecard” didn’t rate CE companies on their green initiatives, said company spokeswoman Jennifer Berry. She said it merely studied their green programs.