The "Fuel Cell Magic Theater" particularly drew a great crowd in the Panasonic booth. Using fantastical images, it introduces how "Ene Farm," a household fuel cell, which creates 2 types of energy - electricity and hot water (heat) - by causing a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, works. It looks as though the animation has been composited into the live action, but this video was actually filmed in the theater. Really, this is what it looked like!

I believe you will be hearing the name "Ene Farm" more often in the near future, so please take a look at this video report and see what it is all about.

The "'eco ideas' for your entire home stage presentation" held every 10 minutes at the Panasonic booth is now available on video. The dialogue between the MC and the animated characters tells you how you can decrease household CO2 emissions by 60% in a way even easy to understand for children.

Eco-Products 2008 has just ended, but the first video report about the Panasonic booth is already available. The "Eco-Products 2008/Panasonic booth overview" will give you a great look at what the booth was like this year. Eco-Products 2008 welcomed a record-breaking 173,917 people over the 3 days this year. This surpasses last year's figures by nearly 10,000 people. The video report will give you a good idea about what the buzz at the exhibition was like, and also show you how variegated Panasonic's exhibition content was from the numerous 'eco ideas' introduced one after another.

At 17:00 on December 13, Eco-Products 2008 has ended. Perhaps because it was a Saturday, but there were many children and families at the exhibition. There were even some children who stood in front of the booth refusing to go home. Children love "festive" atmospheres, so perhaps they thought the exhibition was one big carnival.

This year's Eco-Products was 1 hall larger in comparison to last year, and has involved a record-breaking number of exhibitors. And the number of visitors as of yesterday (124,025) is far greater than last year. Today was the last day, but it was just as crowded as yesterday, so I am sure that we will see a record-breaking number of visitors this year as well. And seeing women with children and non-business people left a big impression on me as well. The field of "environment" will surely draw greater attention in the future. Nothing gives me greater joy than being able to provide readers of this blog useful information from the exhibition. I hope I was able to fulfill this task.

It is time to pack up my things and leave the secret back room. I am going to take a long hot bath to refresh from the 3 rough days of covering the exhibition and get back on my feet again starting Monday.

This time around, 3 members of staff and I could sit along the wall, so the room seemed bigger. Someone took this photo when I wasn't looking… Shouldn't have let my guard down.

We have taken a look at various eco-products offered by Panasonic. But if any of you wondered whether the booth where these products are exhibited was also ecological, you are quite eco savvy. Of course Panasonic is also eco conscious when it comes to the exhibition booths. For example, the booth has been constructed using leased materials avoiding the use of woods as much as possible. In this way, the materials won’t be thrown out and can be reused even after 3 days of Eco-Products 2008 is over. In addition, energy-saving LEDs and bulb-shaped fluorescent lights have been widely used to light up the booth and the products within. I saw a lot of LEDs used even in hidden areas during the setup of the booth. Also, the green ‘eco ideas’ leaf logo also introduced in this blog is lit with bulb-shaped fluorescent lights. Panasonic has strictly calculated the amount of CO2 that can be reduced by employing eco conscious lighting equipment.

Creating an eco conscious booth requires not only the efforts of exhibitors, but also greater environmental awareness among all industries involved. It felt as though, even from this perspective, the environmental awareness is becoming greater among the entire society.

These are the LED down-lights that illuminate the displays. It provides brightness equivalent to a 60W incandescent lamp while achieving nearly 68% energy savings. Although a total of 25 LED down-lights are being used, the amount of CO2 emissions reduced in 3 days adds up to approximately 13.32kg.

Panasonic has launched a stamp rally in its booth. There are 5 corners in the booth where you can get a stamp. But to conserve paper resources, stamp cards are not being handed out this year; visitors can stamp their own notebooks (of course, you can get a stamp card at the reception desk if you need one). 　I also collected stamps on the first day, but the last one was hard to find and I felt like I was playing hide-and-seek! 　The exhibition booth was much larger than I expected.

The Panasonic booth was selected as one of the most "eco conscious booth" by the organizer of the Eco-Products 2008. Some of the judges’ comments displayed within the exhibition venue such as "the booth is a large one, but energy saving is very well promoted’ rang a bell.

Using electrically assisted bicycles to make deliveries, visits, or for patrol rather than automobiles and motorcycles used in the past, will contribute to reducing environmental impact as well as to offering employment opportunities to a wider range of people, since bicycles do not require a driver’s licenses. What supports such corporate eco activities is Panasonic's "business ECO bike." It has done well in the business sphere thus far, but recently, a project to promote the use of rental cycles at tourist sites is being implemented.

This is an electrically assisted bicycle, the "Tabi-Chari (Travel Bike)," available for rental to tourists in Hakone, a popular hot springs resort near Mt. Fuji, provided through the collaboration between Panasonic Cycle Technology Co., Ltd. and a leading travel agency. As you may know, a large number of tourists visit Hakone every year and road traffic is becoming a serious problem. Replacing the use of automobiles for sightseeing with electrically assisted bicycles will not only contribute to decreasing traffic jams, but will also lead to the regeneration of local shopping areas lacking parking space. Although rental bicycles have been commonly found in tourist spots, electrically assisted bicycles are more suitable for hilly areas like Hakone.

By employing a high-performance lithium-ion battery, this bike can travel up to 76km with a single charge and also respond to tough rides. Also, its top caliber torque sensor technology softens resistance and offers a "light and smooth" pedaling experience even when the battery runs out.

Just as an aside, the trend to replace automobiles or motorcycles with electrically assisted bicycles seems to be steadily expanding even among my circle of friends, and my husband is one such person. At his workplace, electrically assisted bicycles have replaced motorcycles used for business. Because there are lots of hills near his place of work, at the beginning, my husband, too, thought that "it would be impossible without cars or motorcycles!" But when he rode an electrically assisted bicycle, he was amazed at how easy it was! He could even ride it uphill without any problems! It seems that its comfortable performance won popularity among his coworkers, that they also purchased electrically assisted bicycles for home-use. It is such a great way of getting around; we don’t have to worry about gasoline in these turbulent times when gasoline prices are unstable.

Panasonic’s "business ECO bike" received the "Fifth Chairperson's Award (Award for Excellence) from the Eco-Products Awards Steering Committee" this year. Riding a bicycle itself is ecologically sound, but the ‘business ECO Bike’ was recognized as being a very excellent energy-saving product.

Panasonic’s "Eco Cute" is exhibited in the corridor between the "-60% CO2 reductions for the entire home" corner and the "eco ideas for Manufacturing" zone. "Eco Cute" is an ecological water heater that creates hot water by collecting heat in the air with a natural refrigerant. It widely promotes energy-savings at home, and it seems that its efficiency has further improved this year.

Here, you can see the inner structure of "Eco Cute’s" heat-pump unit. The copper pipe you can see at the bottom left is the heat exchanger for the water heater. The water passes through this thin, long pipe. A long, thin and twisted refrigerant tube is found in this copper pipe, and when the water passes through and comes in contact with this refrigerant, it becomes warm. Now, Panasonic is the only company that has incorporated a refrigerant tube within the copper pipe. This is a technique, which helps prevents heat loss since if the refrigerant tube is located outside the copper pipe, it gives way to more wasteful heat loss. In addition, protrusions on the surface of the dimple twisted pipe were added, which stirs up the water, and thereby enhances the effectiveness of the heat exchange. Improving the effectiveness of heat exchange not only contributes to saving energy, but also to reducing the size of the equipment.

The water storage tank unit is located on the right side of the heat-pump unit. For the exhibition, there is a water storage tank unit especially equipped with a screen on its surface to show you in an easy to understand way how "Eco Cute" works using animation. Actually, the vacuum insulation material "U-Vacua," which I introduced in the entry about the refrigerator, has also been used for this tank from before. In addition, the latest model uses high-performance "U-Vacua" approximately 8mm thick on 3 sides of the product, improving thermal insulation by 10%. The use of "U-Vacua", which is incomparably thinner than urethane, has helped realized the most compact size in the industry.

The next topic is the 'eco ideas' for decreasing power consumption. "W Eco," which is an environment-conscious lighting equipment, looks like a normal fluorescent light but it is full of ideas that help you save on the electricity bill. First of all, 1 "W Eco" provides brightness equivalent to 2 conventional fluorescent lights. The brightness of the light itself has improved, but this is also the result of the well-thought out shape and form of the light reflector. In addition, its life span has increased by nearly 150% to 18,000 hours in comparison with conventional lights, and by decreasing the hassle of having to change light bulbs as often, it helps you save time and money. Of course, it will also save resources used such as glass.

Please take a close look at the surface of the light reflector of the "W Eco" (the white part behind the shining light). Conventional light reflectors had a smooth surface, but you can see that the "W Eco’s" reflector has a rough surface. This rough surface diffuses reflection, which enhances brightness.

Also, the shape of this reflector is different from that of conventional lights. The left one is the one for "W Eco" and the right one is for conventional lights. This shape helps reduce unnecessary light reflection.

The last one is EMIT building controller "WeLBA." It is a building management system that allows you to single-handedly control facilities such as air conditioning and lighting of offices and tenant buildings from the personal computer, thereby helping you save energy depending on the use of the building. For example, it can check to see if any light or air conditioner has been left on, and enables you to switch them off just by clicking on a few keys on the computer. Also, it detects outside lights during the daytime, so you can adjust the brightness. According to the estimate, it is said that you can achieve up to approximately 30-35% energy savings by using "WeLBA" efficiently.

The layout of the building is displayed on the computer screen and you can see which lights are on or off at a glance (the red part on the screen is where the lights are on). In this way, you can easily see if any lights or air conditioner has been left on or if anything is not functioning correctly.

We tend to refer to electronics products used at home when we think of Panasonic, but as you can see here, Panasonic also develops a variety of products for office-use. I learned that environmental technologies are not only used for households, but can be also applied to the office environment.

The next corner representing ‘eco ideas’ for the entire office is the ‘eco ideas for going paperless’.

In the past, I often heard people saying that "office automation will help reduce hard copies of documents," but I am doubtful as to whether the amount of paper used in offices has really decreased since then. In fact, at the company I used to work for before, every year we used to dispose a huge pile of documents during the year-end cleaning. Also, we always had to struggle to find free space in the file cabinets, which quickly filled up. I also use a lot of paper for my work, too, so thinking about eco activities when it comes to paper makes me feel a tinge of guilt… But, I find it difficult to go paperless because in order to fax documents, I would have to print them out. Also, I can’t hand out documents printed on the back of spare paper either. Now that I think about it, perhaps it has been hard to reduce the amount of paper used because even though people talked about office automation, creating, printing, copying, and sending/receiving documents were all done separately.

Panasonic offers a paperless solution, an 'eco idea,' that may help alleviate such problems with the digital color imaging system "WORKiO" and other products. "WORKiO" significantly contributes to reducing the amount of paper used in offices by converting paper documents into digital data. It's a great machine that not only lets you copy, fax, print, and scan documents, but it can also be directly connected to the office LAN network, so you can save scanned data in a shared folder on the network or send it directly to e-mail address. "WORKiO" was developed from the beginning with a vision to holistically manage all aspects of documentation by using the IP network, therefore, it will offer direct benefits to reducing amount of paper used.

I actually tried testing it out. I asked to have a document scanned and sent from the Panasonic Center Tokyo to the "WORKiO" in the Panasonic booth. It all happened in matter of seconds, so it was hard to realize what had happened, but the document at the Panasonic Center Tokyo was sent to me in a blink of an eye. It was all so fast, I had to ask them to do it again.

This is the "WORKiO." If you have a hard copy of the document you would like to send, it allows you to scan it and send it via e-mail by simply pressing a few buttons, without having to print it out again. For instance, even documents with handwritten comments or corrections can be displayed on the recipient’s computer screen in color, so there’s no need to send black and white faxes, which are hard to read.

You can also send PDF files to mobile phones using "WORKiO." It would be convenient when you need to check something when you're out of the office. Although it’s limited to mobile phones with a document viewer function, most of the latest models are likely to have this function.

For example, if each person uses 1,000 pages of paper per month at an office of 10 people, the total amount of paper used in one year would amount to approximately 480kg. But if you make efforts in reducing paper usage by promoting a 30% digitalization, you can save up to 144kg of paper, which will help reduce nearly 184kg of CO2 emissions. In addition, you can help reduce all the green files shown in the photograph, so you will have more space in the cabinets.

You can also read information about "WORKiO" and its "paperless solution" on the "eco solution" website, which I introduced in my previous entry.

In the Panasonic booth, there is a corner that looks like an office where you will find a digital color imaging system and personal computers. Here, presentations regarding ‘eco ideas for the entire office’ are held in which the MC introduces several 'eco ideas' for the office while including some trivia. The presentation features 3 themes, namely, ‘eco ideas for decreasing the frequency of business trips’, ‘eco ideas for going paperless’ and ‘eco ideas for decreasing power consumption’. In this entry, let me introduce ‘eco ideas for decreasing the frequency of business trips.'

When a person or goods move from one place to another, be it by train, automobile or airplane, a large amount of electricity and fossil fuels are consumed, not to mention CO2 this emits. I frequently travel between Tokyo and Osaka by Shinkansen (the bullet train) and I see many businessmen and women on these trains on weekdays. I wonder "how many people in Japan go on business trips each day." I am sure such business travel involves a great amount of money and time. So is there a way we can do without taking these trips?

The "TV conferencing system" is a great solution for this. When you hear "TV conferencing," you may think it requires expensive equipment. But Panasonic's "TV conferencing system" is quite simple, and it can be easily implemented by using an "audio conference phone" and a "network camera." You can have a very real conversation while watching the video feed on your computer screen. The demonstration illustrated this point quite well.

In the demonstration, the Panasonic booth inside the Tokyo Big Sight and the Panasonic Center Tokyo, which is located just a few-minutes walk from Tokyo Big Sight, were connected using an "audio conference phone" and a "network camera." When the MC said, "Ms. XX at the Panasonic Center," the lady displayed on the screen answered right away. It was as if I was watching a live broadcast on TV. There was almost no time-lag, which, in the past, was frequently experienced during satellite TV broadcasting (you can even play paper-rock-scissors in real time). The sound was also natural and easy to hear without any noise.　 By the way, the huge TV screen on the desk was used for the exhibition. In reality, all you would need is a normal PC.

I also tried it out. It was so simple; all you need to do is aim the camera at yourself and just speak normally. Both the screen image and the audio were very clear. Also, you can explain while showing people on the other end of the camera a document or anything else you'd like. The flat, silver device on my left is the "audio conference phone" and the small device in front of me is the "network camera." You can talk as if the other person is right in front of you. Also, the audio does not break up even if multiple people on both ends talk at the same time. So it is exactly like having a conference.

The amount of CO2 emitted when traveling between Tokyo and Osaka by train is nearly 21kg per round trip. But using this system instead would avoid CO2 emissions while also contributing to saving travel and accommodation expenses and time. I often see businessmen and women working on their PC on the train. Although you can do some work, you can't work on important issues that may involve decision-making or on confidential matters. In such a case, you may have to stop your work and wait until the train arrives at the destination. The "TV conferencing system" will surely contribute to quicker decision-making and to making the entire business operation more efficient.

Information on the "TV conferencing system" is also available on the "ECO Solutions" site I introduced previously. If you are considering implementing eco or cost-saving practices at work, why not take a look at this site for more information?

An ecologically conscious photo exhibition "WWF Photo Exhibition: The Yellow Sea - The Resplendence of the Diverse Life on Earth" is held at the Panasonic Center Tokyo located nearby the Tokyo Big Sight where the Eco-Products 2008 is taking place. Here is some information about the photo exhibition.

WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) is the world’s largest environmental conservation organization known by its panda logo. Panasonic has been taking part in the "Yellow Sea Eco Region Project" jointly launched with the WWF Japan as a Corporate Supporter since August 2007. The Yellow Sea (the sea surrounded by China and the Korean Peninsula) boasts a world-class continental shelf and its great biodiversity has been the source of livelihood for the people living in the region. Japan is one of the countries that import fish and seafood caught in the Yellow Sea. Recently, the natural environment of the Yellow Sea has suffered from overdevelopment as well as from other factors, and local conservation organizations are making efforts to protect its environment. As a Corporate Supporter, Panasonic will be working together with WWF Japan in supporting such activities through financial assistance and enlightenment activities.

You can see photographs of what negative changes the nature in the Yellow Sea have undergone, as well as the lives of people in the area. In the photos, you will find people selling dried shellfish and fish on the street; animals gathering in the tidal flats; very rare birds with a remaining population of 2,000; the sky covered with a great flock of migratory birds performing their rhythmic dance… This rich natural environment is facing a crisis today, and this is happening in a place not too far from Japan. The photo exhibition may be a good opportunity for us to think about this problem seriously.

In the TV corner, you will find the "VIERA Link" with the high definition TV "VIERA," "Blu-ray DIGA," and the "Rack Theater," which lets you enjoy cinematic sound. What is ecological about the "VIERA Link" is that if you push the power OFF button on the "VIERA" remote control, the "DIGA" and the "Rack Theater" that is connected to the "VIERA" are also automatically turned off. I often forget to turn off the DVD recorder after I turn the TV off at home, but every time I think, "Mottainai (what a waste)" so I envy this convenience and energy-saving ability.

If you explore the benefits of connecting the "VIERA" and the "DIGA" and the "Rack Theater," you will find lots more. For example, if you select the "Rack Theater" as the main audio source, the "VIERA" will mute its own sound. These may seem like little things, but may be they add up to curtailing power use.

The black TV platform under the "VIERA" is the "Rack Theater." And the "DIGA" has been stored in this rack. The total annual power consumption for the 3 pieces of equipment in 2005 was 572kWh. And with drastic improvements in energy efficiency, in 2008 it has decreased to 336kWh, so Panasonic has been successful in achieving 41% energy savings.

If I can point out another ecological benefit, the power the equipment consumes when it is OFF and on standby has been significantly decreased due to a small component known as the IPD (Intelligent Power Device). I can only think of taking the plug out of the wall when I think about how you could reduce power consumption while equipment are on standby, but Panasonic's environmental technology has made significant improvements even in this area as well.

What significantly contributes to the "C02 -60% ideas for your entire home" is the air tightness and heat insulation capacity of homes. With a better air tightness and heat insulation, less air conditioned heated/cooled air will escape outdoors, so you may be able to feel comfortable a longer period of time. The latest eco life housing by PanaHome has reduced heat loss by approximately 52% in comparison to 1990.

This is a comparison of the cross section of a wall from 1990 and present day. You can see that the window has become thicker, but this is because it has evolved from single paned glass to double paned glass. Also, the aluminum sash has been shaped in a way that makes it harder for the heat to escape, and the durability of various materials used for walls has improved. The wall from present day is made of photocatalytic tiles known as "KIRATECH." Being photocatalytic, the hydrophilic properties of the walls are enhanced making it harder for dust to become affixed. And it can remain beautiful by using natural light and rain.

Better air tightness may raise a concern about ventilation and condensation. The issue is how to expel unclean air and humidity in the home, but PanaHome offers both a machine run 24-hour ventilation system and natural ventilation using chimneys. Especially, the ventilation chimneys on rooftops let the air that has naturally risen in the house escape, so it plays a really important role in the ventilation of the entire home. Every illustration of a house found in the Panasonic booth has a chimney. This was the reason why.

The heat pump tilted drum type washer-dryer is embedded with a very environmentally conscious technology known as the heat pump. The heat pump technology extracts heat from the air like a pump and uses it to efficiently dry laundry. What is key to this technology is the heat exchanger. When the humidity from the washed laundry enters the cooling section of the heat exchanger, the water and heat is removed from the air and pushes the cool temperature high at once. This warm air is used to dry the laundry. With the "heat pump" washer-dryer, the amount of electricity used is reduced to just 1/3 in comparison to a Panasonic washer-dryer (fully automatic + heater to dry the laundry) from 7 years ago. And you can also save about 648kg of CO2 emissions annually.

Actually, the heat pump has evolved even further from the one in model that was just released in October. Panasonic has now combined the cooling and heating devices of the heat pump unit. And by making further improvements in the interior shape, slanted space was created to allow for about 1.5 times more wind capacity. The more wind capacity there is, the more de-humidifying capacity it will have. Moreover, by increasing the surface area of the heat exchanger by approximately 1.2 times, the heat exchange efficiency has improved. This is referred to as the third generation heat pump.

Cold air with 100% humidity comes in from the left, and enters the cooling section of the heat exchanger (the component in the middle with many round copper ducts). And by the time air comes out from the heating section on the right, it has become dry with a humidity of only 10%. This washer-dryer performs this over and over again at amazing speed to dry the laundry.

This is the skeleton model of the tilted drum type washer-dryer. The wet air in the drum goes through the thick white duct on the upper left, and then through the rectangular heat exchanger in front. The air becomes dry instantly, and travels through the black duct back into the drum. The red and blue lights express the difference in temperature. As cool as it may be, the actual washer-dryer does not light up (laugh).

In April this year, when the Japanese government announced their policy to "get people to switch from using incandescent lights to fluorescent lights at home by 2012," I thought, "eco consciousness is beginning to be implemented in homes." I often visit people's homes when I report about housing, but newer homes all use lots of bulb-shaped fluorescent lights. And if the owner is very eco conscious, they will even change the incandescent light bulbs in the bathrooms to fluorescent ones. So you can see that the people are becoming more and more eco conscious in their homes.

I introduced the bulb-shaped fluorescent lights, the "Palook Ball Premier," inlast year's , but this year it has evolved even further to become the "Palook Ball Premier Q (Quick)." It is a widely known fact that fluorescent lights are far more energy efficient than incandescent lights, but one of the demerits is said to be the slower speed at which fluorescents lights become bright. But as you can tell from the name the "Palook Ball Premier Q (Quick)" becomes bright quite quickly, and so you can now use them in places where you turn the light on and off quite frequently such as bathrooms and corridors without feeling any stress.

The secret behind its rapid brightness is that the spiral luminous tubes now contain compact quick lamps. Immediately after you turn the light on, the quick lamp gets bright, and then when the spiral luminous tube has become sufficiently bright, the quick lamp automatically turns itself off to avoid unnecessary electricity loss. Of course it has a life span of 13,000 hours so it lasts about 13 times longer than ordinary silica light bulbs.

This corner offers a comparison with silica light bulbs. What is unique is that there are 8 light bulbs each of the Palook Ball and silica light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. If you stand under the silica light bulbs, you can slowly feel the heat, but you can't feel anything under the Palook Ball. So here, you can experience for yourself how silica light bulbs waste energy by transforming power into heat.

If you enter the Panasonic booth from the left side of the "CO2 -60% ideas for your entire home" stage, you will see a wooden floor that has a warm feel to it. This is the "E Floor" made by Panasonic Electric Works. It is a new flooring using a new material, the "special hard chip board" made of 100% recycled wood. The raw materials for this "special hard chip board" is made of pulverized construction scrap wood and mill ends from making plywood. This floor is made from such scrap wood, which would normally be thrown away as waste, and by using special adhesive, and hot pressing and moulding processes. This eco idea is highly praised and the "E Floor" received the Eco-Products Grand Prize this year.

The chips in the small glass bottles on the left are the raw materials for the "E Floor." There are 2 types of chips - some fine, some more coarse. And by lining up the fine chips on top of coarse chips and pressing them together, you end up with a hard board. The board on the right side of the glass bottles is the "special hard chip board" and behind it you can see the "E Floor."

Japanese housing have a short lifespan in comparison to homes around the world. And I have heard that the amount of scrap wood from homes being taken down is just immense. But recently, the concept of a "200-year homes" has become more widespread. Nevertheless, even despite of this homes with shorter life spans built in the past will end up being taken down in the future. If we can effectively use such scrap wood, it will help reduce CO2 emissions and preserve forests, and you can enjoy your wooden floor without feeing guilty at all.

Last year, I introduced the "Household Fuel-Cell Cogeneration System" in this blog. Its commercial production has finally begun, and what's more, it has been renamed "Ene Farm" and has become an even more familiar presence for the general public. When I saw it last year I thought it should be given a nickname like "Eco Cute" because the name "Household Fuel-Cell Cogeneration System" is way too long for people to remember. And yes, they have given it a new name!

Normally, power plants are located far away from households and generated power has to travel a long way through power lines to reach people's homes. Therefore, transmission loss is essentially inevitable. It is said that this loss amounts to 4% of the total power generated, which is enough to light every household in Japan. But if we could generate power at home, we would be able to prevent this transmission loss from occurring. "Ene Farm" generates energy through a chemical reaction and uses the heat emitted during the process to make hot water. The heat generated during the process at power plants is released into the air, so "Ene Farm," which makes use of such heat to provide hot water for the kitchen and bathrooms seems really ecological. Panasonic leads the world with this new system and it has begun commercial production of the "Ene Farm" in June 2008. The system will be offered to the Japanese market through a gas company starting next year.

The ‘Fuel Cell Magic Theater’ available this year has been designed to make "Ene Farm" easy to understand even for children. (It’s the mysterious space behind the black curtain I mentioned in the entry I wrote right before the exhibition began). I went and watched the show first thing in the morning today!

Behind the black curtain, there is a space that has a screen on a stage and resembles a small theater. When the performance started an MC appeared amidst the darkness. Animated images popped up on screen one after another. You see the MC and the "Ene Farm" on the stage through these images, so it makes the images appear as though they are floating in mid air! Then, lovable faces appeared on the fuel cell unit and the hot water storage unit that form the "Ene Farm," and started talking to the MC. The show offers an optical illusion that makes you feel as though a real person and moving, changing animation exist in the same space.

The ‘Fuel Cell Magic Theater’ takes place every 10 minutes and there is always a line of visitors waiting at the entrance for the next show. I recommend you to check it out when you visit the Panasonic booth because you can learn about the underlining principles and the structure of "Ene Farm" while being quite entertained!

The "insulation performance of home electronics" is one of the environmental technologies Panasonic has been focusing on. For sure, you can enhance the energy saving performance of home appliances that keep things cold such as the refrigerators by covering them with insulation material. In last year's entry, I wrote about how the vacuum insulation material "U-Vacua" felt to the touch and about its great insulation performance. This year, a comparison is made between the insulation performance of urethane insulation material 80mm thick (this seems quite thick) with that of "U-Vacua" 4mm thick by measuring the temperature.

The 2 lights on the left and 1 on the right are halogen lamps that have been placed there to heat the insulation materials. The white board with the description "80mm thick" on the lower left is the urethane insulation material (you can't see in the photo, but there is another urethane insulation material 4mm thick placed above the 80mm thick urethane). The thin, silver material on the right is the "U-Vacua". These materials are heated using the abovementioned lamps, but the temperatures for urethane that is 80mm thick and "U-Vacua" 4mm thick are almost the same. Meanwhile, the temperature of the 4mm thick urethane is nearly double that of the "U-Vacua" of the same thickness proving that the insulation performance of the 2 materials differs dramatically.

This photo shows the cross-section of the refrigerator. It's a bit difficult to tell, but the "U-Vacua" vacuum insulation material is the gray bit that the arrow is pointing to. The material is placed starting from the lower end of the thermometer to the bottom (this helps to especially insulate the freezer). It looks thicker than 4mm in the photo because it's been cut to show the cross-section, but the actual material is much thinner.

Contrary to refrigerators that keep the cold air cold, thermal pots use the insulation performance of the "U-Vacua" to trap in warmth. So the insulation materials can be applied to various products including refrigerators and thermal pots. Panasonic is also developing bathtubs using "U-Vacua" to prevent hot water from cooling down. With Panasonic's environmental technologies more advanced energy saving products may be brought to life in future.

The stage on which 'eco ideas' for your entire home will be introduced is found in the most prominent location in the booth. And on it, presentations take place every 10 minutes under the theme "CO2 -60% ideas for your entire home." I went and listened in on the presentation, so let me tell you about it in detail.

The concept footage contains animation and uses simple language to make it easy for even children to understand. Electronic appliances such as washer-dryers and air conditioners appear as cartoon characters, and carry on a dialogue with the MC. In their conversation, they mention Panasonic’s efforts to offer numerous 'eco ideas' to minimize household CO2 emissions, which has been increasing annually. At the end of the animation, they also talk about how 'eco ideas' are found in electronic products, as well as the house itself.

The stage presentation using animated characters of familiar electronics products is easy to understand and intriguing for children as well as adults, and as such, it will most definitely leave a lasting impression on all who see it. Nowadays, tackling environmental issues are an important task, which must be addressed by every company regardless of their size or scale. I realized that in a world where environmental awareness is increasing, Panasonic is seriously facing up to "its responsibility as a manufacturer of a great many home electronic products that consumes energy and gives off CO2."

It seemed as though Panasonic as well as other companies and organizations gathered here at Eco-Products are communicating their message from a variety of standpoints. And as a consumer, we should fully utilize the information on saving energy that they are providing in order to do our part in helping to protect the global environment.

A large number of students on field trips came to the exhibition from early morning. It was impressive how they were enthusiastically taking notes during the presentation.

The MC's outfit and relaxed expression also provides an at-home atmosphere. Her soft expression creates a comfortable, familiar ambience.

Here, I would like to introduce the "CO2 -60% ideas for your entire home" concept. Under the Kyoto Protocol, Japan’s target for CO2 emission reductions during the first commitment period is -6% from the levels in 1990. Despite the national commitment in implementing various environmental measures, as you know, Japan is far from achieving its target. It is said that adopting measures to reduce household CO2 emissions is necessary as they are increasing year on year. Panasonic focused on the "home" because it believes that it is imperative that we proactively reduce household CO2 emissions.

Using a family of 4 (father, mother, daughter and grandmother) living in a house as a model case, the "-60% reduction" has been set by calculating the total amount of CO2, which 96 Panasonic products from 1990 and 2008 would emit during their respective product life cycles. You can find the list of these 96 products on the left side of this stage. When we think of Panasonic products, we often think of electronic appliances or AV equipment, but actually, these 96 products also include the house itself offered by PanaHome. A house boasting great air tightness and insulation is cool in summer and warm in winter, therefore, this significantly contributes to CO2 reduction. It is also noteworthy that CO2 emissions have been reduced by 60% in spite of the increase in the quantity of products included from 2008 in comparison to the quantity of products included from 1990. Perhaps this is due to the evolution of environmental technologies.

In the 'eco ideas for Everybody, Everywhere' zone you can watch footage of the "Panasonic ECO RELAY," an undertaking I introduced in a previous entry, and a commercial introducing activities Panasonic conducts around the world with the Panasonic's theme song sung by Dreams Come True, a famous Japanese band. "Panasonic ECO RELAY" introduces environmental activities conducted en masse by Panasonic's factories and affiliated companies in 39 countries and regions around the world, including Japan, Thailand, United Kingdom, Brazil, U.S., and China. Activities such as tree-planting, clean-up, and environmental education that best suits each country/region were conducted.

For example, in Malaysia, Panasonic has joined forces with the government and educational organizations to jointly plant an artificial reef to help corals grow. For a moment, you feel like you've escaped to a resort while watching the footage of the beautiful clear blue waters and corals attached to the artificial reefs. But it also makes you realize that even nature in the beautiful ocean is being destroyed. You often here about planting trees on land, but tree planting in the ocean (?) sounded a bit fresh. If you want to take a look at the footage, please click here. You can also learn about the WWF's Arctic Programme in this corner.

White LEDs have been used as lighting in the 'eco ideas for Everybody, Everywhere' zone. I touched the LEDs before the display table was set up. It is a very ecological small light, offering sufficient level of brightness without emitting much heat.

This is the 'eco ideas' for Manufacturing' zone, which introduces 'eco ideas' for the entire length of the product lifecycle, including energy-savings during manufacturing processes, materials, packaging, and recycling. What we, as consumers, see are end products displayed in the 'eco ideas for Products' zone, but there are numerous processes involved from materials to the delivery of finished products, and even after these products are submitted for recycle. And I learned anew that various environmental activities are being undertaken at each stage.

On the right, you will find an air ducts/pipes and air conditioning simulation that realizes CO2 emission reductions in factories. The manufacturing know-how Panasonic has acquired over the years is being put to use to help preserve our environment.

Aside from the 'eco ideas for your entire home', you will also find a corner introducing innovative 'eco ideas' for the office and the entire building. There are many eco ideas for offices, such as 'eco ideas for going paperless,' 'eco ideas for decreasing the frequency of business trips,' and 'eco ideas for decreasing power consumptions.

This corner introduces 'eco ideas for generating power at home - state of the art energy.' "Ene Farm," Panasonic's household fuel cell cogeneration system is on display, and behind it there is a "Fuel Cell Magic Theater," which introduces the secrets behind the "Ene Farm." The stage presentation is held every 10 minutes, but it's so popular, there's often a line for the next showing.

This corner is about light bulbs that are "bright, yet low-energy consuming and long lasting." You can see a comparison between a traditional silica light bulb and bulb-shaped fluorescent light, "Palook Ball Premier Q (Quick)." With traditional silica light bulbs, much electricity is wasted as heat. Moreover, as the name, "Quick" indicates, it becomes bright immediately after the light switch is turned on. So people who used to be a bit concerned about the speed or the time it takes to get fully bright no longer have to worry!

This corner introduces "energy savings with the vacuum insulation material and a central layout." A vacuum insulation material called "U-Vacua" is used to keep heat (hot and cold) from escaping from refrigerators and thermal pots. The temperature-retaining abilities of the cooled air or heated water improve with the use of such material.

Here you will find familiar energy-efficient electronics products. What I would especially like to draw your attention to are ideas to "ingenuously use heat in our lives." In the "new heat-pump energy and water efficiency" corner, you will find the tilted drum type washer-dryer. This washer-dryer extracts heat from the air like a pump and efficiently dries laundry.

This is the "Full of entertainment - having fun while being ecological" corner. Nowadays you can enjoy entertainment while being ecological. You can see how the "VIERA Link," which connects digital AV equipment around the high definition TV "VIERA," comes in really handy in trying to save energy.

In this corner introducing "energy savings with air control robot," an air conditioner embedded with a robot that controls the airflow and sensors that can detect people's location and movement.

From here onwards, you will discover energy-saving products as well as "environmental technologies" that have helped bring these products to life. This corner with a floor lined with eco-conscious material, "E Floor," and a high definition TV "VIERA" resemble a living room. In the corner that helps "promote energy savings by making power consumption visible," the "Lifinity Eco-Management System" is on display. You don't usually see how much power you use, but by making that visible, the system helps promote greater environmental awareness within your family.

I want to show you what the Panasonic booth at Eco-Products 2008 is through a series of photographs. What takes up the largest space in the booth is the 'eco ideas for Products' zone. First, there is the stage presentation full of ideas for your entire home. This is located in the most prominent location, adjacent to a junction of corridors. On the corner you will find a sign shaped like a house with the words, "Panasonic brings to you CO2 -60% ideas for your entire home." So you can easily find it. I'll tell you more about it in another entry.

The Eco-Products 2008 has just begun. The Panasonic booth this year is in Hall 4. It is the first entrance on the left hand side when you walk towards the Tokyo Big Sight from the train stations of the Rinkai Line or the Yurikamome Line. Panasonic is located at the very back of this hall on the left side, so it's very easy to find.

This year's Panasonic booth has been designed to reflect the "entire home." I mentioned that a "house has been widely used as the design motif" in my previous entry, but the concept is to introduce 'eco ideas for your entire home.' When I think about it this way, the entire booth starts to look like homes that have employed the cube shape into the design; this design style is becoming increasingly popular in Japan. The various corners of the booth have been partitioned into square shapes like a room in a home, and you travel through these various room-like corners to have a look at the booth. And the familiar leaf-shaped 'eco-ideas' mark may be found all around the booth.

Eco-Products 2008 will surely be even more exciting than last year. I will do my best again this year to introduce the latest information I discovered in the booth, so please look forward to my entries!

It’s about 7:00 pm. Only 15 hours to go until the opening of the Eco-Products 2008, which will start at 10:00 am tomorrow, December 11th. The set up of the Panasonic booth is almost complete.

The protective sheets are removed from the entire booth and now we can see the clean floor. The flooring material I mentioned in the previous entry is also polished to a fine shine. From now until tomorrow after the opening, we are not allowed to enter the booth with shoes on, so I am taking photos and gathering information in my socks.

These are plants you will find around the “for your entire home stage” signage. The person in charge of the plants made great efforts in creating a beautiful and attractive look by planting several kinds of plants and cutting the lawn carefully with a pair of scissors. I heard that they chose conifer, which has needle-like leaves (the long and thin plant at the back), so that it would stand out against the white background, while also not being too eye-catching. So you can see how all kinds of efforts have been employed even in the selection of a single plant.

Bulb-shaped fluorescent lights will be exhibited in the corner introducing 'eco ideas' that support our daily lives. I saw a cardboard box full of “Palook Ball Premier Q (Quick)” light bulbs and some silica light bulbs. I am very much looking forward to see how they will be exhibited!

This year, presentations will take place on the stage introducing 'eco ideas' for your entire home, “Fuel Cell Magic Theater,” and 'eco ideas' for the office and the entire building corner within the Panasonic booth, so I can hear everyone doing rehearsals in many places around the booth. I will tell you more about the various demonstrations once the exhibition begins.

The Eco-Products 2008 will finally begin tomorrow. At around 1:00pm today, I arrived at the Tokyo Big Sight where the event will take place to get a sneak preview. Taking a look at this year’s Panasonic booth, I found its image to be quite different from what I have seen before. I wonder how it will look when it's complete. I'd like to save the unveiling of what the booth looks like until tomorrow, and so for today, I would like to introduce the booth, which is currently being set up, together with some photos.

You will find many designs of houses like this all around the Panasonic booth this year. It seems like this year’s exhibitions will mostly focus on home-related ideas. Also, there is great relevance to the theme of this year’s Eco-Products, “We Can Do It! Eco-Lifestyle with 50% CO2 Reduction”.

In the inner corridor of the booth I found a corner named “Fuel Cell Magic Theater”. 　I heard sounds coming from behind the black curtain, so I took a peek inside… and I saw something very impressive, fantastical. I don’t know what they will show there yet, but I am really looking forward to seeing the show during the exhibition!

You often see such a scene right before the exhibition begins - the entire floor covered with protective sheets. Especially, this year’s booth has employed flooring materials used in homes, which creates an ambience that may remind you of home. It seems like this flooring material will be a part of the exhibit. I will tell you about it more in detail later on.

You will find greenery in many places around the Panasonic booth this year. I was surprised when I touched a small tree and the lawn on the side of the concept stage because I had thought that they were fake. But I was wrong; they were real! I heard that Panasonic has used a western lawn, which maintains its beautiful green color even during the winter.

This is a hanging poster of Eco-Products 2008 I found on a subway on the way to Tokyo Big Sight. I also saw the same poster on other subway lines too.

What blew me away when I first reported about the Eco-Products exhibition was the organizer's thorough planning. There is a lot of interactivity, which gets the visitors involved, but lectures, symposiums, and talk shows were also held, attracting visitors from various perspectives. As was the case last year, there are also a lot of organizer-planned activities.

For example, for people who are unsure about how best to get around the booth, there are (free) "venue eco tour". There are 6 different courses, "entry level", "petite farming", "zero waste", "food", "front-lines of eco business", and "eco life". And you can visit various booths that suit these various themes. Each tour is held 3 times a day, and you have to apply by 15 minutes before each tour at the eco-tour registration counter. (Please refer to the official site for the timetables of the tour and unfortunately, these tours are only available in Japanese). I saw many tour guides with little flags held high walking around the booth with many participants last year. Even if you talk about "eco", people may have interest in various different aspects of it. So, it's great that you can select themes based on your interest.

After you've explored the booth, it's great to take a break. What I am personally looking forward to is the natural food corner. Last year I was able to find time to try out various dishes with food mileage descriptions in-between my reporting. And if you like to shop, you should also take a look at the Eco-Products Market. Last year there were lots of organic products available and the market was quite successful.

I've only introduced a little bit of what's available at Eco-Products. There's much more at the exhibition that will help you think and learn about the environment, so please make your way to the exhibition.

This is what I ate at last year's natural food court. (I even had organic coffee). This risotto is said to be made of ingredients produced in nearby farms. It tasted excellent.

An exhibition on Panasonic's "social contribution" is being held from December 2 at the Panasonic Center Tokyo. The founder, Konousuke Matsushita said "since all those things necessary to a company-people, money, land, and goods-come from society, then the company itself is something entrusted to us by society, and is actually of the society, and is thus a public entity." He also stated that "as a public entity of society, companies should contribute to society through business activities in a variety of forms, and thus it is the company's social responsibility to improve the quality of life of society."

It was back in 1946 that he first described the company as a "public entity." It was the first post-war meeting amongst the people in charges of Panasonic's sales offices. In a time when most major cities in Japan had been burnt down to the ground, he was talking about the company's mission and philosophy that seems to reflect the concept of CSR (corporate social responsibility) as we have come to know it. The founder's philosophy has continued to live on at Panasonic, and recently, it has begun to think about CSR on a global level, and it decided to organize an exhibition on "Panasonic as a Public Entity of Society" during the time of the Eco-Products.

This exhibition, which introduces Panasonic as a public entity, is one of the events it is undertaking for its 90th anniversary. It introduces the words from the founder, Konosuke Matsushita, its corporate philosophy, and its 90-year history by displaying footage on the plasma TV and using panels in quite a compact space. What is especially popular is the interactive exhibition.

"Panasonic by Time" Using 3 plasma display panels, this corner introduces what has happened and what products have been created since its establishment as well as various episodes. If you turn the disc-like operation interface in front of the display the chronology displayed on the screen shifts. The screen changes when you hit a socially significant event (credit crisis, rapid economic growth, etc.). You can see Panasonic's activities during each era from various perspectives, i.e. work-life balance, environment, and regional contribution.

"Global Activities by Panasonic" If you press the dots on the glowing globe with a pen-shaped pointer, the respective activities undertaken by Panasonic's employees across the world is displayed on the plasma display screen. It seems that many children enjoy learning about such activities using this globe.

"Message from Our Stakeholders –Children's Voice- If you spin the disc-like interface in front of the screen, an envelope containing messages from children all over the world show up on the screen. If you select an envelope, words fly out of the envelope like confetti and display the message. And then a part of the video containing the message is shown.

There is also a georama that was displayed at the "world of 'eco ideas,'" an exhibition held at 6 cities across Japan this year. The realistic miniature city is attractive to both children and adults alike.

Panasonic Center Tokyo is quite near the Tokyo Big Sight where the Eco-Products will be held. The exhibition mentioned above (free admission) is held until the last day of Eco-Products 2008, December 14, so why not stop by on the way back from Eco-Products.

I introduced some of Panasonic's websites on the environment in my previous entry, but there's additional content available for companies. Unfortunately, it's only available in Japanese, but I found a page that lets you calculate the amount of CO2 emissions in your office.

Being eco conscious by decreasing the frequency of business trips Panasonic proposes remote conferencing using speaker phones and network cameras that makes it possible for you to still have dynamic communication. I go back and forth between Tokyo and Osaka once or twice a month (about a 500km distance), but when I calculate my CO2 emissions from these trips, I found that it amounts to 21.01kg per round trip. This seems to be equivalent to the amount of CO2 absorbed by 1.5 cedar trees in a year. If you can do without travelling, it's more ecological, and you'll also be able to save on transportation cost and time.

Being eco-conscious by going paper-less Panasonic also proposes going paper-less, by scanning documents using a digital multi-function printer, and converting the received fax into data. For example, if you decrease the number of copies made per day by 1,000, you can decrease CO2 emissions by 5.12kg. This is equivalent to the amount of CO2 absorbed by 0.4 cedar trees. 1,000 pages - you can easily use this much paper even in 1 meeting if you pass out a 30-page document to more than 30 people. And if this kind of habit was in practice in a big company… If you think about concrete examples, it gives you something to think about.

Ideas for decreasing the number of business trips and going paper-less will be introduced at Eco-Products, so I will tell you more about it from the exhibition.

I looked into various environment related pages on the Panasonic website. There are lots of articles on the environment. Let me introduce some that highlight Panasonic's environmental commitment and green activities.

A website dedicated to 'eco ideas' This website very clearly introduces Panasonic's eco declaration and its 3 'eco ideas,' - 'eco ideas for Products,' 'eco ideas for Manufacturing,' and 'eco ideas for Everybody, Everywhere.' It also serves as a portal for web pages on the environment.

Panasonic ECO RELAY This introduces the "Panasonic ECO RELAY," which was launched in Panasonic's factories and affiliate companies in 39 countries and regions all over the world this October. You can look at photographs and videos of various activities, such as tree planting, clean-up, and environmental activities, and when you look at them you realize anew what a global company Panasonic is. The　Panasonic ECO RELAY is a great idea selected from among about 20,000 ideas received during the internal 'eco ideas' contest.

There are various other eco related content on the Panasonic website. And even at a glance, you can see that the field of "environment" is very far-reaching.

Only 1 month left to go in 2008. When I hear the sounds of December approaching, I become excited as I start to think "it's almost time for Eco-Products." This year, too, Eco-Products 2008, one of Japan's largest exhibitions on environmentally conscious products, will be held from December 11 to 13 at it's usual location, Tokyo Big Sight.

This year's theme for Eco-Products is, "We Can Do It! Eco-Lifestyle with 50% CO2 Reduction." The 8 major economic powers (G8) met in July at the Toyako Summit and agreed on long-term targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. And in order to achieve 50% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050 all around the world, Eco-Products will serve as a platform on which latest energy-saving technologies from Japan will be exhibited. Panasonic will also play a role here.

What is unique about Eco-Products is that not only companies, but also NPOs, NGOs, and research facilities such as universities take part. You can also see many grade school and junior high school students who come to the exhibition on their field trips. Perhaps that is why but many company have exhibited their booths in a way that is also easy to understand for children, and they seem to have made many efforts to come up with ingenuous ways to make the displays fun for them as well. It must be really difficult to communicate environmental technologies in an easy to understand way, but as a reporter, I appreciate being able witness such efforts.

Moreover, Eco-Products celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. If you look at the figures from last year, you will see that there were over 630 exhibitors, and the exhibition attracted nearly 165,000 visitors. And if you look at the fair's performance over the past 9 years you will see that the number of exhibitors and visitors have been steadily increasing. According to the official website, 750 exhibitors are expected to take part this year. Perhaps these figures are indicative of the rise in society's awareness for the environment. And perhaps as a result of this, the fair will be extended for 1 hour, changing its open hours from 10:00 - 17:00 to 10:00 - 18:00. Please note, however, that it will end as usual at 17:00 on the 13th, the final day.

Watching TV or reading the newspapers as a consumer, I feel as though lately the amount of advertising that promote the energy-saving effects by mentioning specific figures have increased. I am already looking forward to what 'eco ideas' I will run into at this year's Panasonic booth at Eco-Products.

Eco-Products 2008

Period: Dec 11 (Thurs) - 13 (Sat)
Tokyo Big Sight (Tokyo, Japan)
Panasonic booth: East 4 Hall
Organizers: Japan Environmental Management Association for Industry (JEMAI), Nikkei Inc.
Official site: http://www.eco-pro.info/eco2008/english/