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Komiyama How did you manage to reduce utility power 90%?
Sakane The big breakthrough was tapping into groundwater. We held a brainstorming session on ways to lower power consumption, and one of our employees
said, “I don’t see why we’re talking about solar and biomass and wind. We’re in
Ishikawa, which has fabulous groundwater resources.” The temperature of that
groundwater is 17 °C.
Komiyama Really? So, there’s no need for cooling.
Sakane But there wasn’t enough energy for heating, so we turned to biomass. The
region has an excess of thinned wood, which we started using to generate electricity
and provide heating. All the production equipment was designed for energy
efficiency, plus the productivity per unit area was doubled, and we also utilized
renewables including solar, biomass and wind, so in the end we cut the utility power
use by 90%. We are now renovating buildings at the other Japan factories, one by
one.
Komiyama I know that one of the reasons behind the decision to relocate some
head office functions was the data that had come out on fertility rates among your
female employees.
Sakane According to the most recent data for married women over 30, in Tokyo
the average number of children is 0.9, while in Ishikawa it’s 1.9, and for Ishikawa
women in management positions, the average is 2.6 children. Also, the proportion
of married women in Tokyo is about 50%, versus about 80% in Ishikawa. When
those figures are combined, it works out to 3.2 times more children.
Interview
Komiyama How did you manage to reduce utility power 90%?
Sakane The big breakthrough was tapping into groundwater. We held a brainstorming session on ways to lower power consumption, and one of our employees
said, “I don’t see why we’re talking about solar and biomass and wind. We’re in
Ishikawa, which has fabulous groundwater resources.” The temperature of that
groundwater is 17 °C.
Komiyama Really? So, there’s no need for cooling.
Sakane But there wasn’t enough energy for heating, so we turned to biomass. The
region has an excess of thinned wood, which we started using to generate electricity
and provide heating. All the production equipment was designed for energy
efficiency, plus the productivity per unit area was doubled, and we also utilized
renewables including solar, biomass and wind, so in the end we cut the utility power
use by 90%. We are now renovating buildings at the other Japan factories, one by
one.
Komiyama I know that one of the reasons behind the decision to relocate some
head office functions was the data that had come out on fertility rates among your
female employees.
Sakane According to the most recent data for married women over 30, in Tokyo
the average number of children is 0.9, while in Ishikawa it’s 1.9, and for Ishikawa
women in management positions, the average is 2.6 children. Also, the proportion
of married women in Tokyo is about 50%, versus about 80% in Ishikawa. When
those figures are combined, it works out to 3.2 times more children.
Interview