Posted on 02 Oct 2009
Nippon Steel Corp, the world's No.2 steelmaker, said it had achieved a 15 percent cut in energy origin carbon dioxide emissions in the fiscal year that ended in March from 1990 levels due to energy-saving measures.
The Japanese steel industry has set a voluntary target of cutting emissions by 9 percent over the five financial years to March 2013, as part of the country's commitment to the Kyoto Protocol.
But Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has pledged a much more ambitious target of curbing emissions by 25 percent by 2020, weighing on shares of Japanese steelmakers.
A Nippon Steel official said on Thursday the opening of a state-of-the art coke plant in May 2008 and other smaller energy-saving measures helped cut emissions, in addition to a 7 percent fall from 1990 levels in its crude steel output amid an economic downturn.
"We're thoroughly tackling energy-saving issues and will be able to steadily reduce emissions every year even if production rises," the official said.
Nippon Steel's CO2 emissions totalled 63.5 million tonnes in the 2008/09 financial year, when it produced 33 million tonnes of crude steel. That was lower than the emissions it generated in 1998/99, when its steel output hit a recent low of 28 million tonnes, Nippon Steel said.
