On this stage, designed to look like our home, Panasonic proposes a "Lifestyle with Virtually Zero CO2 Emissions Throughout the Entire House" in a very easy to understand way. The 3 pillars of this proposal are ideas that "save energy," "create energy," and "store energy." Panasonic aspires to realize an even greener, comfortable lifestyle by linking these ideas together with the Home Energy Management System and intelligently controlling them.

To "save energy," Panasonic has endeavored to rein in the power consumed by its home electronics and it also introduces "ECO NAVI," which helps its products operate in the most energy efficient manner with the help of sensors and control technologies, while keeping an eye on how people use energy in their homes. And Panasonic also introduces energy saving products such as LED lighting, which is drawing great attention as next generation lighting.

To "create energy, the stage presentation introduces the household fuel cell cogeneration system, "ENE-FARM," which creates electricity and hot water from natural gas, and solar power generation system, "Sun Best." Panasonic proposes a lifestyle in which the required energy is created right at home.

And to "save energy," the stage presentation introduces how Panasonic promotes the development of household lithium-ion batteries that have the industry's top-level durability and storage capacity.

There are great hopes for household fuel cells, solar power generation systems, and household lithium-ion batteries as the next generation energy source, but the presentation also introduced Panasonic's AC/DC Hybrid Power Distribution System, explaining how this system reduces the loss that occurs when transforming current from AC (alternating current) to DC (direct current) by supplying DC created and stored to the home directly as DC.

Moreover, as a proposal for the future, the presentation demonstrates the "Intelligent Home Energy Management system." This system detects people's movement and automatically controls LED lighting and air conditioners, for example, to create an optimal environment. For example, if you sit on the sofa in the living room in the morning, the lights and air conditioner will automatically come on. And if you select the "eco mode" from the menu displayed on the TV screen, the sensors detect the conditions indoors and outdoors and will automatically open the curtains to let the sunshine in and dim the indoor lights if it is sunny outside. The system makes automatic, eco-conscious adjustments, i.e. adjusting the level of air conditioning by incorporating the air from below the floor boards that are warm in the winter, cold in the summer. Also, if you select the theater mode great for watching movies, the system will create a cinema like environment, by dimming the lights slightly and turning down the air conditioning.

The lighting used in this living room is the LED lighting system that can change color temperatures, so the stage presentation introduced how you can change the color of the lighting and have cool, white lighting in the summer and a warm glow in the winter to create a sense of coolness or warmth. Because the presentation recreates such environments on stage, it was really easy to understand.

The term "intelligent" reflects Panasonic's desire to help realize an even greener lifestyle with the latest technologies encompassed in this system that looks at each and every individual's lifestyle.

Overall, the stage presentation was very easy to understand because the images on the large screens on stage and the motions of the people on stage were linked. There is a crowd in front of the stage at every presentation, which made me realized anew how many people had a keen interest in eco. From what I heard, Panasonic's introduction of eco-conscious activities and ideas at last year's CEATEC was distinctive. This year, Panasonic has given more weight to eco, and communicated its commitment in the stage presentation, but it seems like more and more companies are incorporating ecology into their themes. In a way, we could say that Panasonic's activities have created a new trend for CEATEC.

There is substantial energy loss when converting DC supplied by household fuel cells, solar power generators, and storage batteries to AC. Panasonic has introduced the AC/DC Hybrid Power Distribution System that can supply DC power to our homes directly as a solution to this problem. Paying due consideration to safety, Panasonic is going to start with low voltage products such as ventilation fans and LED lighting to make them run on DC.

The "Intelligent Energy Management System" automatically turns on the lights in the dining room when people move from the living room to the dining room, and, at the same time, automatically turns off the living room lights.

• Household Fuel Cell Cogeneration System
• LED Light Bulbs "EVERLEDS"