Sony Europe uses 100% renewable energy

Sony Europe announced today that its 32 sites throughout Europe, falling under Sony’s Global Environmental Management System (GEMS) are powered by electricity from 100% renewable resources.

This impressive milestone is part of Sony’s wider global CO2 reduction measures that have resulted in a reduction of 55,216 tons of CO2 emissions in FY08 in Europe alone (100,000 tons globally).

“Whilst we continually strive to reduce the amount of energy we use, it is a huge achievement that our 32 largest sites in Europe use electricity from 100% renewable sources” said Serge Foucher, Executive Vice President of Sony Europe. “However, we are not complacent. We are well aware that making our products and operations more energy efficient is a key part of reducing our overall CO2 emissions, and this is a key focus for us. For example, Sony’s European operations have reduced CO2 emissions by approximately 90% between FY2000 – FY2008”.

Sony has achieved these reductions by applying “eco-thinking” throughout its business operations. This includes energy saving programs at all its sites, such as Pencoed in the UK where a 43% energy saving was achieved from FY07 – FY08, most of which came from innovative engineering work to improve the equipment and lighting system.

Product energy use and shipping are also looked at closely. Sony’s latest BRAVIA Eco TV “WE5” consumes 50% less energy than previous comparable models and Sony has made shipping more efficient by reducing packaging and unit size and moving towards less CO2-intensive forms of transport such as rail, sea or barge transport.

The 32 GEMS certified sites using renewable energy have been independently certified by Bureau Veritas Certification (BVC) to confirm that they used 100% renewable electricity in fiscal year 2008. Bureau Veritas is a global leading certification organisation.