Mitsubishi Corporation has made an agreement with the government of Pakistan to launch a project aimed at treating the industrial emissions of one of the country's major chemical fertilizer manufacturers.

The emissions of Pak-Arab Fertilizers' factories will be treated for harmful nitrous oxide

  The project is a so-called Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) arrangement. Under the Kyoto Protocol, companies from industrialized countries committed to cutting greenhouse gases can invest in emission-reducing CDM projects in developing countries. By doing so, they gain so-called carbon credits, which count towards the companies' own CO₂ emission reduction targets.
  The investment in Pakistan involves reducing the amount of harmful nitrous oxide (N₂O) emitted as a by-product of the production process at a nitric acid plant owned by Pak-Arab Fertilizers. The CDM project will generate emission credits equivalent to 1.15 million tons of CO₂ per year. Mitsubishi Corporation intends to utilize its networks to sell these emission credits to corporations committed to reducing greenhouse gases.
  The production of chemical fertilizers is a key industry in Pakistan, which has a very large agricultural sector. Reducing the greenhouse gases produced by this industry is not only important for the environment, but also creates employment opportunities and allows the country to further develop its agriculture and create a sustainable infrastructure. The venture, which is planned to go into operation in January 2007, is therefore strongly supported by the Pakistani government.

Soaring; the new wind turbine order from Babcock & Brown is MHI's largest to date

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has received its largest order for wind turbines to date—from Babcock & Brown, one of the largest developers and operators of wind power projects in the world. The order, to supply the hardware for four new large-scale wind power generation projects in the U.S., involves a delivery of no less than 443 large-size wind turbines, each with a diameter of 62 meters and a power output of 1 MW. The deal brings MHI's total wind turbine orders to 2,626 units, which have a combined nominal power output of 1,843 MW.

  Of the 443 wind turbines, 38 units will be used in the Buena Vista project in Northern California, while another 90 will go to the Aragonne Mesa project in New Mexico; both projects are set to commence operation by the end of 2006. Meanwhile, 135 units will be delivered to phases 4 and 5 of the Sweetwater Wind Power project in Texas, which will launch in the fall of 2007, and a wind farm project in Colorado will take 180 units intended to go operational by the end of 2007.

  Mitsubishi Power Systems, the MHI subsidiary in the U.S. who also took the initial order, will procure wind turbine towers, supply blades, provide installation support, undertake the wind turbine commissioning and handle maintenance for a period of five years.

The new car floor mat uses a plant-based resin to drastically cut its lifetime CO2 emissions

Mitsubishi Motors continues to strengthen its green credentials, this time through a high-tech makeover of the humble car floor mat. The new mat, developed in cooperation with Toray Industries, Inc., is the second in the company's Green Plastic range of automotive products and is made of a highly durable combination of the plant-based resin polylactic acid (PLA) and nylon fibers. The first product in the range, an interior-trim material made from polybutylene succinate (PBS) and bamboo fiber, was announced in February 2006. The PLA/nylon fiber floor mat will make its market debut in a new Mitsubishi Motors car model in late 2006, slightly ahead of the trim material.

  Switching to the environment-friendly PLA resin, which is made with lactic acid produced through the fermentation of sugar extracted from sugar cane or corn, makes for a 40% reduction in lifecycle CO₂ emissions over similar floor mats. Testing of the prototype also confirms a reduction in harmful volatile organic compounds (VOC) of more than 50% over current floor mats, due to the elimination of adhesives.

  As part of its efforts to help combat global warming and slow the depletion of the world's oil reserves, Mitsubishi Motors will continue to extend its Green Plastic product range and gradually replace car interior parts that use petroleum-based resins.

A new green product from Mitsubishi Plastics, a biodegradable plastic wire made from the plant-based resin polylactic acid (PLA), has been put to good use by Apica Co., Ltd, a member of the Oji Paper Group. Apica recently used the new wire, which is used to bind notebooks and calendars, in their "Eco Ring-Bound Notebook," the first of its kind from a Japanese notebook manufacturer.

Certainly noteworthy; biodegradable notebooks with PLA binding

  Since PLA is derived from plants, the amount of CO₂ emitted during manufacturing of products from PLA plastics is greatly reduced. Compared to other plastics, PLA-based products can also be disposed of through incineration with far fewer harmful emissions. Even if disposed of in landfills, they will decompose into water and CO₂ in the presence of moisture and microorganisms, so they are believed to be a sustainable alternative to petrochemical-based plastics. Mitsubishi Plastics' biodegradable plastic wire joins a range of films, sheets and molded products the company makes from PLA. The company is now finding a ready market for these materials in corporations that actively promote energy-efficient, sustainable products and processes.

The zero-emission target was reached far ahead of schedule

Nippon Petroleum Refining, the petroleum processing subsidiary of Nippon Oil Corporation, has become the first oil company to achieve its zero-emission target, expressed as a final waste disposal rate of 0.6%.

  The Nippon Oil Group actively promotes environmental management, environment-friendly products and services, and initiatives to reduce its environmental load. Nippon Petroleum Refining, which oversees refineries that produce a large amount of waste, has gone to particularly great lengths to reduce and recycle waste under the "Zero Emissions by 2007" program. As a result, the company was able to achieve the zero-emission target stated in its mid-term environment management plan in fiscal 2005, two years ahead of schedule.