Sony Goes Green With Gusto Here and Abroad

Tons of vendors are touting green technology and energy-saving products these days. But not as many are eating their own dog food, so to speak, when it comes to being environmentally conscious.

One big player which is doing its part to use renewable energy sources is Sony Corp. The company just announced it cut 100,000 tons of CO2 emissions and is expanding United States-based effort to "go green" as well as also reducing electric consumption in its Japanese operations efforts. It says it is looking to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through a newly launched initiative called the Green Power Certification System.

In Europe every Sony facility with over 100 employees is now powered by 100 percent renewable energy and the conglomerate has sliced CO2 emissions by approximately 90 percent in the last eight years. Last year, Sony’s U.S. operations purchased 42 million kWh of renewable energy, which equals a 25,000 ton reduction in CO2 from renewable energy usage. And just this Spring, Sony DADC, a division which makes optical disc media, announced it was going to buy more than 83 million kilowatt-hours of green power in the United States, which will satisfy 44 percent of the organization's electricity use.

And that’s not all it’s doing in the United States.

Sony Pictures Entertainment is using 100 percent renewable energy to run its Arizona data center, and the company has installed photovoltaic cells on the roof of an existing building at its Culver City, Calif., headquarters as part of a pilot solar energy program. The studio is also experimenting with new energy sources, such as biodiesel, in film production.

Over in Japan, where renewable energy is less accessible, Sony announced this month it had bought Green Power Certificates equivalent to approximately 50 percent of the electricity to be used at Sony City (its headquarters in Tokyo) starting this fall.

It’s the first time "green" energy has been used at Sony City, and is expected to result in an annual GHG emission reduction of approximately 6,800 tons. That makes Sony the largest purchaser of green energy in Japan.