Epson US
In December 2023, Epson became the first Japanese manufacturer2 to switch to renewables for 100% of its electricity needs (approximately 876 GWh3 per year in FY2022) at all its sites worldwide1. By September, the transition was about 90% complete. Since then, two sites in Malaysia have switched, completing the transition at all production sites. Heading into the end of the year, the remaining sales office and other sites in Taiwan, where sourcing renewable electricity is difficult, completed the switch, enabling us to achieve the goal of 100% renewable electricity before the end of 2023.
Epson considers this to be a strategic, up-front investment for creating social value and an investment in society and future generations. The company was therefore willing to bear higher costs in the short term to attain the goal. This is a reflection of our strong commitment to contributing financially to the expansion of the renewable energy market and to stimulating renewable energy market development. By completing the switch to renewable electricity, we estimate that we will eliminate approximately 400,000 tons of CO2 from electricity generation annually.
According to the Sixth Assessment Report (2021) of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global average temperature rose 1.09°C from 2011 to 2020 compared to pre-industrial times (1850-1900). If no effective action is taken, it is estimated that the average temperature could rise between 3.3°C and 5.7°C by the end of the century, a level that could cause an irreparable collapse of nature and ecosystems. The report therefore concludes that humankind must somehow limit the rise to 1.5°C or less. A Consensus Agreement adopted at COP 28 on December 13 noted that the temperature has already risen by 1.1°C and that there is little time remaining before the temperature rises to the 1.5°C limit.
With the world in crisis, Epson, which has operations around the world, is committing to fulfilling its responsibility to society by announcing, in Environmental Vision 2050, that it would reduce its total emissions in line with a 1.5°C scenario by 2030 and become carbon negative by 2050. Epson’s main actions will be geared toward (1) decarbonization, (2) closing the resource loop, (3) customer environmental impact mitigation, and (4) environmental technology development.
Epson will spend 100 billion over the 10 years to 2030 on initiatives in (1), (2) and (4). For (3), Epson will concentrate its management resources on the development of products and services that reduce environmental impacts. This is a declaration that all products produced by Epson will contribute to environmental impact mitigation. And we will invest approximately 1 trillion yen over 10 years in the development of these products
1 Excludes some sales sites occupying leased properties where the amount of electricity consumed cannot be determined
2 The first Japanese manufacturer in the RE100. As of January 1, 2024, per Epson research.
3 Includes co-generation system (CGS) electricity and privately generated electricity
