Abstracts of Magazine FUJITSU 2011-11 (VOL. 62, NO. 6)

Special Issue: Environment

• Fujitsu Group's Environmental Activities

The Fujitsu Group recognizes the environment is one of its crucial management priorities. The "FUJITSU Way," its corporate philosophy, stipulates that protecting the environment is one of four policies the Group should pursue as a good corporate citizen. Based on this awareness, the Fujitsu Group has set a medium-term environmental vision called "Green Policy 2020," aiming to create a prosperous, low-carbon society. Furthermore, the Group set "Fujitsu Group Environmental Protection Program (Stage VI)" from fiscal 2010 to fiscal 2012, to backcast Green Policy 2020, and to respond to global environmental problems. This paper introduces the Fujitsu Group's environmental management framework. It also introduces measures for reducing our environmental loads, and activites for making environmental contributions to customers and society.

• Fujitsu's Electricity-Conservation and Energy-Saving Solutions

The Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred in March 2011 has reduced the nation's power supply capacity, and posed a major business challenge for enterprises: conserving electricity. In addition, saving energy, something that enterprises have long been working on, is attracting attention as a major issue along with the amendment of the Energy Saving Law in 2010. Fujitsu sees conserving electricity and saving energy as two different things. We recognize that they are both important from the three perspectives of regulation, social responsibility and cost reduction. Based on this recognition, we widely support customers' activities toward conserving electricity and saving energy. To conserve electricity, we are attempting to promote electricity-conservation activities by broadly offering our know-how to society. As an approach to saving energy, we clearly express our views and help customers to effectively save energy. This paper first presents recent social conditions in relation to conserving electricity and saving energy and their respective characteristics. It goes on to explain what approaches Fujitsu is taking to conserve electricity and save energy by making use of information and communications technology.

• Achieving Energy-Saving Network with Green Network Solution

With the increase in the amount of communication traffic, network equipment has become high-speed and come to have a large capacity. Consequently, there are concerns about the increased amount of power they consume. Aiming to help save energy in the area of network equipment, Fujitsu established the "Green Network Solution Vision." In order to reduce customers' environmental impact, Fujitsu is developing energy-saving technologies from the five perspectives of devices, systems, the entire network, construction and operation of the network, and solutions for utilizing the network. Under this policy, by developing and commercializing products such as an access transport system and optical wireless equipment, Fujitsu will help customers to reduce the environmental impact of their operations and maintenance costs. At the same time, it will help make the entire network more environmentally friendly. This paper presents the direction that development of energy-saving technology for network equipment should take, and gives case examples.

• Fujitsu's Approach to Realization of Energy Management System

Power supply and demand has been an issue since the Great East Japan Earthquake and its impact has spread from businesses to general life. In addition to general energy challenges including stable demand and supply, environmental response, and cost reduction, safety has been emphasized since the earthquake and Japan's energy policy is now at a turning point. Hence, energy management systems (EMSes), which use information and communications technology (ICT) to address the challenges above to realize individual and overall optimization, are attracting attention. Achieving full-scale EMS at a commercial level essentially requires ICT technologies that can instantaneously process a massive amount of data sent from numerous sources to convert them into new values and the integration of various systems. To realize a smart grid, Fujitsu regards it as its social mission to establish EMSes and offer related solution services. It aims to do this by taking advantage of the network technologies and know-how in cloud platforms and system integration it has accumulated to date. This paper presents the positioning of EMS from the perspective of an ICT vendor and Fujitsu's approach.

• Visualization of Office Power Usage by Smart Power Strip to Encourage Energy Conservation

As a tool to reduce the amount of electricity consumed in places such as offices, we have developed a system to visualize the power consumed on a microlevel, i.e., by each electrical device and individual. We developed a small, simple, and smart power strip for practical use with a newly designed built-in contactless current sensor for each power outlet. We also developed an electric power visualization system used to acquire data from each power outlet of the smart power strip and to detect wasted electric power. By visualizing the detailed power consumption on a personal level and an individual's ranking in the office in terms of their power consumption, we encouraged each person to improve their usage of OA equipment. A trial service of the developed system was conducted in one of Fujitsu's offices with 100 persons. As a result of this service, we measured a 15% reduction in power consumption.

• Developing and Providing Software that Helps to Reduce Environmental Burden

Recently, saving energy with software has become a key issue in addition to saving energy with information and communications technology (ICT) devices themselves such as servers, storage devices, networks, and PCs. Fujitsu is developing a series of software that helps to reduce environmental burden when used in combination with ICT devices. This paper introduces cases of using such energy-saving software, focusing on Systemwalker, Interstage, Symfoware, ServerView Resource Orchestrator, and ETERNUS SF. In addition, as part of its ecological initiatives, this paper shows Fujitsu's continuous effort to reduce environmental burdens in software development itself. This paper refers to activities in the Numazu Software Development Cloud Center and the paper-free delivery mechanism of software licenses.

• Helping Reduce Environmental Impact with Eco-friendly ScanSnap Series of Products and ScanSnap Customers

The ScanSnap series of personal document scanners are widely used in many places, ranging from offices to homes, as compact and power-saving products. They contribute significantly to reducing environmental impact since they can be used to digitize paper documents and thus reduce the amount of storage space required for such documents. In addition, the new products in this series have enhanced features to link up with the cloud, thereby increasing the number of places and opportunities to scan, which further contributes to reducing environmental impact. This paper introduces the environmental technology incorporated in the ScanSnap series and describes how the products can help reduce customers' environmental impact.

• Environmentally Conscious Product Design through Entire Life Cycle

The Fujitsu Group has been moving forward with its approach to reducing the environmental load of its products during their life cycle. Since 1993, it has been assessing the effects its products have on the environment. It has been aiming to reduce the power consumption by technologies of software and hardware for energy saving, to save resources, to improve the recycle rate, and to exclude harmful substances by chemical substance management. Fujitsu uses the Eco-efficiency Factor as an index to improve all products it offers to customers. This index is based on the results of assessing the life cycles of products from their design, manufacturing, distribution, and use, to their recycling whenever a new product is developed. Moreover, Fujitsu has defined products with top-level environmental performance, calling them Super-Green products, and used them to promote the development of products with advanced technology and a competitive edge. This paper introduces Fujitsu's approach to developing Super-Green products in the Fujitsu Group's Environmental Protection Program (Stage VI) (FY 2010 – FY 2012), examples of such products, the Eco-efficiency Factor and product recycling.

• Management of Chemical Substances Contained in Products

To comply with chemical regulations such as the EU's RoHS directive and Japan's J-Moss, which were enforced in 2006, the Fujitsu Group has established design rules in consideration of the environment. The aim is to ensure its products do not contain six substances including lead and cadmium. In addition, it has researched alternative technologies, and technologies to analyze the use and acceptance of parts materials, and applied them to product design. Prior to this, Fujitsu has been promoting environmentally conscious design rules and analysis technologies since 2003. However, recently it has become desirable to enhance the credibility of information on chemical substances contained in products, improve design efficiency and expand the range of parts and substances to be analyzed. In addition, from 2009, the European REACH standards, which relate to the management of specific chemical substances, have also become design criteria. This paper mainly introduces an outline of the initial environmentally conscious design rules for (chemical substances), new design rules to improve the quality of chemical information and design efficiency, and analysis technology for candidate chemicals to regulate.

• Development of Efficient LCA Calculation System: Designs for Environment (DfE) for Actual Improvement

In reaction to a growing awareness of the environment, many companies are promoting initiatives for Design for Environment (DfE) green product designs. Life cycle assessment (LCA), which can quantitatively evaluate the environmental impact of a product throughout its life cycle, is one such initiative. LCA can provide information in terms of environmental indicators such as the amount of CO₂ produced and so it becomes possible to determine how much CO₂ will be produced at each stage of the product life cycle. Hence, many companies have now introduced it so that they can understand the environmental impacts of their products and consider ways to reduce such impacts. However, the process of calculating LCA is complex and time-consuming since it involves accumulating the LCA calculations of the parts and materials that constitute the product. If this process is handled manually, it will take about 20 hours for Fujitsu Ten's car-navigation product. Because of this complexity, tools that automatically calculate LCA have been launched on the market or established in several organizations. Nevertheless, it still takes 3 to 5 hours on average for their calculations. This paper presents the challenges involved in efficiently calculating LCA. It also introduces Fujitsu Ten's efforts for establishing a system in which LCE is automatically calculated just by inputting a product number.

• Approach to Develop Assessment Standards of Energy Saving for Network Equipment

From the perspective of global warming, we must take responsible action to reduce CO₂ emissions. However, there are no global standards to assess energy saving for core and access network equipment. As the chairman of the IP network system committee in the Communications and Information network Association of Japan (CIAJ), the writer launched the energy-efficiency project for network equipment, and conducted a study on assessment standards and targeted level of energy saving for core and access network equipment. The writer also presented the outcome of the study to the Ecology Guideline Conference for the ICT Industry, which is led by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) and five telecom industry organizations, and established the "Ecology Guideline for the ICT Industry." This guideline provides assessment standards and relevant values of energy saving for ICT equipment, and contributes to procurement standards of energy-saving equipment for providers of telecommunications services. This paper presents the efforts made to develop the guideline and the actions that venders need to take.

• Fujitsu Group Activities for Global Warming Countermeasures

At present, we are in the first commitment period (2008 to 2012) specified in the Kyoto Protocol and Japan has committed itself to the goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 6%. Accordingly in the industrial world, enterprises have been conducting activities toward achieving this goal, including the formulation of voluntary action plans. As measures for the prevention of global warming, the Fujitsu Group is engaged in activities that help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of customers and the whole of society, and the emissions resulting from its own business activities. Of these, as activities in Fujitsu plants and offices, this paper describes the reduction goals set forth in the Fujitsu Group Environmental Protection Program (Stage VI) and the ongoing measures mainly including those in relation to infrastructure facilities. In addition, it covers the introduction of renewable energy and the development of energy-saving technologies in Fujitsu's production processes, which are activities that have just started.

• Low-Temperature Soldering Technology for Environmental Burden Reduction

Fujitsu has successfully developed a new lead-free solder alloy for low-temperature semiconductor packaging by introducing 0.5 mass% antimony to eutectic tin-bismuth solder. In this way, it has dramatically improved the solder's high strain rate ductility and drop impact resistance. It was found that in this solder, a fine-grain tin-antimony inter-metallic compound dispersed in the tin-bismuth major phase, thus giving the alloy a fine-grain structure. This would improve the mechanical properties of the eutectic tin-bismuth solder. In particular, the ductility and drop impact resistance were found to be four times those of tin-bismuth solder. This solder alloy's high tolerance to the drop impact made it possible to apply the alloy in mobile electronics such as cellular phones, notebook PCs and so on. Moreover, the low melting point of the alloy paved the way to realize low-temperature device packaging below 180˚C. Using this solder, the energy consumption of a solder reflow furnace can be reduced by 30% compared with the conventional tin-silver-copper solder. This paper introduces the basic properties of the newly developed solder alloy, and its potential applications in electronic packaging.

• Construction of Environmental Reference Model Using Own Practices

Environmental conservation is a hot topic. Hence, the Fujitsu Group is aiming to reduce environmental impact by utilizing the products and solutions of information and communications technology. It is constructing an environmental reference model by selecting four of its bases as representative models. It is following the key concept of "Green Reference for Tomorrow," which relates to the actual workplaces and main measures. The Kawasaki Plant, which is upholding "Green Reference for R&D," is creating leading-edge green technologies and solutions. Fujitsu Solution Square is carrying out "Green Reference for Office" in which it is working for reform relating to leading-edge green offices and green work styles. FUJITSU ISOTEC is working on "Green Reference for Factory" by carrying out a variety of measures aiming for sustainable manufacturing. And the Tatebayashi System Center is working on "Green Reference for Data Center" by accumulating know-how in various measures that it introduced as a world-class, green data center. This paper describes the background of Fujitsu's environmental reference model. It introduces Fujitsu's typical measures and the Group's efforts to accumulate know-how in the future.

• Fujitsu Group's Green Purchasing Activities

Environmental activities in enterprises are essential not only for realizing a sustainable society but also for the survival of the enterprises themselves. For example, conducting business with watching the trends of global environmental regulations such as the RoHS Directive and REACH Regulation of Europe, which concern chemical substances in products, leads to stronger risk management. Recently, it has become essential for improving corporate value to take the initiative in social contribution activities including tree planting and ecological protection in addition to regulatory compliance. The Fujitsu Group recognizes environmental activities as a top priority management issue and has long been engaged in environmental efforts. The Purchasing Division has been carrying out green purchasing activities since FY 2001. It focused on risk management including regulatory compliance until FY 2009. In FY 2010, "approaches towards limiting or reducing CO₂ emissions" and "approaches towards biodiversity preservation" were added as new themes and activities were started in cooperation with business partners. This paper presents an overview and the status of activities under these two new themes of the Fujitsu Group's green purchasing.

• Fujitsu's Efforts for Green Logistics

Green logistics are environmentally conscious logistics that give little impact to the environment. Nowadays many companies are actively implementing green logistics as a global warming countermeasure. In April 2006 the revised Energy Conservation Law (known as Japan's Revised Energy Conservation Law) went into effect. As a result, not only transport operators but also shippers were strongly urged to make efforts for energy conservation measures. Therefore, shippers are rapidly accelerating their efforts for green logistics. Fujitsu is strengthening its efforts toward mitigating environmental impact throughout its entire supply chain and working on various measures. This paper introduces specific initiatives that are being focused on as Fujitsu's efforts for green logistics, such as expanding modal shift and improving loading efficiency by reducing the number of vehicles. It also describes some case studies.

• Applying ICT in Biodiversity Surveys and Evaluations of Impact on Biodiversity

Many aspects of our lives are only possible thanks to ecosystems that are based on biodiversity. Our society has been supported by the consumption of a huge amount of resources and a dependence on fossil fuels, but it is reaching the limit. It can be said that the key to achieving an affluent society is finding a way to sustainably use ecosystems (biodiversity). The 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP10) was held in Nagoya in October 2010. This conference reaffirmed the responsibility of enterprises related to biodiversity and the importance of them conducting specific activities to protect biodiversity. One of the targets in the Fujitsu Group's mid-term environmental vision Green Policy 2020, which it formulated in 2008, is the conservation of biodiversity. This vision laid down three policies: 1) use information and communications technology (ICT) to conserve biodiversity, 2) help promote a society that has abundant biodiversity, and 3) conduct global initiatives for biodiversity. Fujitsu is conducting activities in line with this vision. This paper introduces Fujitsu's approach to biodiversity, focusing on its efforts for using ICT and examples of evaluating biodiversity.

• Vegetation Mapping Technology Using Hyperspectral Imaging

Biodiversity is closely related to human life, and our daily life is sustained by biodiversity. Therefore, it is important to conserve areas that are rich in life, such as rivers and forests. Currently, biodiversity is on the decline in many areas due to the invasion of non-native species or the abandonment of planted forests. Thus, it is desirable to develop a method to quickly grasp the status of vegetation. Conventional surveys on vegetation have required huge amounts of money and labor, and also in remote sensing surveys it was difficult to distinguish the species. In such circumstances, in recent years hyperspectral sensors have been developed that can be used to obtain detailed data. They have started to be used in various fields. Also in the field of the environment, it has become possible to broadly classify vegetation into green tracts of land and forests. However, cedar and cypress, which are evergreen conifers, have similar spectra and so it is difficult to distinguish them. This paper reports on a newly developed spectral analysis technique that makes it possible to distinguish them.