Panasonic Fuel-Cell Initiative Heats Up In Japan

Tag : Hot Runner System
This ancient city that in 1997 yielded theKyoto Protocol, the first international agreement to reducegreenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, also serves asthe hub for one of Panasonic’s most ambitious ecologicalinitiatives: the use of fuel cells to power private homes.

As part of it’s Eco Ideas strategy , Panasonic has begun been rolling out its latest generation ofpolymer electrolyte fuel-cell co-generators after two years ofextensive field testing in Japan. The fuel-cell system generateselectricity and hot water through the chemical reaction of hydrogenwith oxygen, powered by natural gas. The result is enough power todrive a home’s heating, air conditioning and hot watersystems while simultaneously reducing energy consumption by anaverage of 22 percent and carbon dioxide emissions by 12 percent,compared with all conventional systems, based on the results of thetesting.
When compared with the most common conventional thermal electricpower plants, the Panasonic system increased energy conservation byup to 30 percent, reduced CO2 emissions by up to 40 percent andreduced nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 90 percent.
Panasonic’s new manufacturing facility in Kusatsu City, ShigaPrefecture, went online last month, producing about threeseventh–generation systems a day. Each system consists of twounits: a generator designed around cell stack technology thatemploys membrane electrode assemblies, and a tank that collects thebyproduct of the fuel production — hot water — which isstored for household use.

On average, Panasonic claims the system can cut 3,662 kWh ofprimary energy use per house, per year and cut 1,175 kilograms ofCO2 emissions, compared with a house fueled by a thermal powergeneration system. That translates to an energy-cost savings ofabout 600,000 yen (slightly more than $600) per year. At a cost ofabout $6,000, the system should pay for itself in 10 years,according to the company.
Panasonic will continue field testing the systems through March2009, with a projected full-scale commercial rollout in fiscal2010. Regional power utility companies will be distributionpartners and will install and maintain the systems. Other companiesexpected to market fuel-cell systems for the home in Japan includeToshiba, Sanyo Electric, Ebara and Toyota.
The Japanese government kicked in subsidies for the cost of theunits for field testing and will continue to subsidize the systemsat some level for consumers who wish to install the systems intheir homes. The first fuel-cell system was installed in then-PrimeMinister Junichiro Koizumi’s new official residence in 2005.
At a ceremony marking the shipment of the first system earlier thismonth, Panasonic president Fumio Ohtsubo declared: “I amconvinced that fuel cells will be a front-runner for powergeneration in the 21 st century, among various approaches to the creation ofenergy.”
Panasonic projects that the commercial rollout will enableself-sustainable prices for the units based on the step-by-stepbreakthrough cost reductions of mass production by 2012.

The company projects shipments of between 3,000 and 5,000 systemsin fiscal 2010, ramping up to 60,000 to 100,000 by 2015 and 700,000units by 2020.
While there are no immediate plans to market the units overseas,Tsuneo Shibata, the project leader for Panasonic’s fuel-cellinitiative until last year and who now acts as an adviser, said hefelt it was inevitable that the systems would eventually reachother countries, and that “China would be a very likelyimmediate candidate, because fuel costs are very high there and itis rich in natural gas.”
Shibata, whose home in Hyogo Prefecture has been powered by the fuel-cell system since June, allowedvisiting journalists to tour his home and experience the system atwork.