Solutions for visualizing, understanding, and streamlining carbon emissions from various angles, such as business sites and products, corporate activities, and consumer behavior.
Efforts to conserve energy have been underway for several decades, but in recent years, the methods used have become more sophisticated, including AI and other technologies and billing methods based on usage. These solutions optimize energy usage.
Solutions related to batteries and hydrogen, such as electrification (EV) of mobility (means of transportation) such as cars and buses, which used to be fueled by gasoline, to reduce CO2 emissions, and to extract hydrogen for industrial use and to encourage its practical application.
Solutions related to batteries and hydrogen, such as electrification (EV) of mobility (means of transportation) such as cars and buses, which used to be fueled by gasoline, to reduce CO2 emissions, and to extract hydrogen for industrial use and to encourage its practical application.
Solutions that contribute to the fixation and absorption of CO2 in the atmosphere through forest protection and forest management, and offset the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that cannot be fully reduced through the purchase of carbon credits.
One solution is to reduce emissions in society as a whole by recycling metals, plastics, and other resources and products at various stages of economic activities.
【Report of Decarbonization EXPO】e-dash partners with Mizuho. LCA Plus grows services.
"e-dash" and "LCA Plus", the CO2 emissions visualization solutions provided by Mitsui & Co. In this report, we report on the new approaches we saw from the exhibition panels, interviews with the persons in charge, and the seminar.
The 4th Decarbonisation Expo Spring was held at Tokyo Big Sight from February 28 to March 1, 2024. Held concurrently with "Green Transformation WEEK," which brought together the latest technologies for achieving carbon neutrality, the event attracted a cumulative total of over 69,000 visitors.
Joint Exhibit by e-dash, Mitsui & Co. and Mizuho Financial Group
e-dash, a cloud service for CO2 emissions visualization, will be exhibited jointly with Mitsui & Co. and Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. This was a result of the conclusion of a capital and business alliance by the four companies on February 13, 2024 (announced on February 20). A seminar co-hosted by the three companies was also held during the exhibition.
The speakers were Kotaro Sueyoshi of Mizuho Financial Group and Mizuho Bank, Kazunori Ikezawa of Mitsui & Co. and Toma Yamasaki of e-dash.
The key phrase "Accelerating the decarbonization of Japan through the transformation of its industrial structure" was prominently displayed in the booth, which was the objective of the capital and business alliance.
For the bank, decarbonization means reducing GHG emissions, not only our own, but also those of the customers to whom we invest and lend. We ourselves are committed to 2050 net zero. To achieve this, we need to visualize the CO2 emissions of our customers, and even their entire value chain, and reduce them. Until now, GHG reductions have been seen as a cost that has held back growth, but we are telling our customers that the transition to decarbonization (transition) is a business opportunity to be seized.
Through our business alliance with e-dash from 2022, and through our proposals to a wide range of customers, we have come to understand that e-dash has the ability to design products that can be reproducibly used by anyone, from small and medium-sized companies to large corporations. In order to leave a better society for the next generation, we must change our industrial structure. To achieve this goal, we decided to enter into a capital and business alliance with e-dash and its parent company, Mitsui & Co.
Financial returns are important. However, strategic returns are even more important, and we believe that by working together with e-dash and Mitsui & Co., we can achieve the structural transformation of the industry that we are aiming for," said Kotaro Sueyoshi, Deputy General Manager of Sustainable Business Department, Mizuho Financial Group and Mizuho Bank, Ltd.
There is talk that Japan lags behind Western countries in decarbonization. However, while I have seen various overseas decarbonization solutions and technologies from abroad, Japan also has many excellent services and solutions in Japan.
I am proud to say that e-dash's UI/UX, the solutions beyond visualization, and the support for reductions, including finance, are advanced and sophisticated initiatives. By leveraging Mitsui's network and collaborating with Mizuho Financial Group, we aim to develop this business that can expand globally," said Kazunori Ikezawa, Mitsui & Co.
Kazunori Ikezawa, General Manager, New Business & Innovation Dept., Sustainability Impact Division, Energy Solutions Business Unit, Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
I believe that CO2 emissions and ESG information disclosure will become the norm, and this will become a business practice throughout the entire supply chain. I believe that the tag team of these three companies can contribute to such a major transformation.
We have raised a total of 2.5 billion yen in the capital and business alliance. First, we will focus on the immediate needs: visualization of GHG emissions, reporting, planning support, and reduction support, all of which are areas in which we will improve the customer experience. In addition, while awareness of the need for decarbonization has been growing, it has yet to reach the entire Japanese society. In the future, we would like to use our valuable funds to communicate the value of our services to a wider range of customers.
Toma Yamasaki, e-dash CEO
The capital alliance between Mizuho Bank's finance, Mitsui's global network, and e-dash's design and solutions has been described as the "birth of the triple threat," meaning a player with three different skill sets.
Visualization and beyond
At the e-dash booth, the appeal of "e-dash," which enables visualization of invoices by simply uploading their image data, was presented in an easy-to-understand manner. The company also introduced its new services, such as "Energy Saving Legal Period Reporting via e-dash," which simplifies energy saving legal period reporting, and "e-dash Carbon Offset," a green power certificate service that it has begun offering.
Also during the event, the "Gifu Sustainability Linked Loan" jointly implemented with Gifu Shinkin Bank received the grand prize in the project category of the "NIKKEI Decarbonization Award 2023" sponsored by Nikkei Inc. This is a groundbreaking system that simplifies the application of Sustainability Linked Loans by using e-dash and allows even small and medium-sized enterprises to apply for the loan.
"LCA Plus" presents customers' problems in a clear, easy-to-understand manner.
LCA Plus, a one-stop platform service for the management of product LCA (Life Cycle Assessment), which enables the monitoring of emissions per product/service unit, including raw materials/parts procurement, logistics, production, distribution, use, and recycling, also attracted a large number of visitors.
The exhibition booth was designed to provide an easy-to-understand storybook of LCA Plus functions to solve many people's problems in LCA/CFP (carbon footprint of product) calculation, no matter how big or small they are. In addition, by displaying the logos of users, it was immediately apparent that it is a highly reliable service.
Featured New Services: "CFP Report output" and "Business Consulting Service"
One new feature that is attracting attention is the "CFP Report output". This is a revolutionary function that allows users to easily create reports based on calculation results at the touch of a button. In addition, LCA calculations require the development of an in-house environment. The new optional service "Business Consulting Service" provides wide range consulting service for CFP calculation including consulting on how to collect essential data for CFP calculation.
The visitors' topic of conversation was Europe's product unit LCA mandate.
The most impressive comments from the visitors this time were "compliance with the European Battery Regulation," "CBAM compliance," "Catena-X collaboration," all of which are about to be implemented in Europe.
Product LCA calculation business field is in the midst of a changing environment, with the legal system and social infrastructure still underdeveloped. We are sensing a growing interest in the issues that our companies need to address in response to the regulations that directly affect our sales activities.
said Tatsuro Iwasa, project manager of the LCA Plus project.
Tatsuro Iwasa, Project Manager, LCA Plus Team
He also says that the "Decarbonization Expo," where he can communicate directly with a wide range of visitors, provides him with great insights every time.
"We again realized that our customers' efforts in CFP quantification have been diversifying and their needs for support have been divided into various levels accordingly. In the past, most of our customers were just starting to work on product LCA calculation, but recently, some of our customers have been saying, "Our suppliers do not disclose their CFP," or "We would like to increase the number of products subject to CFP quantification, but we cannot proceed due to the huge volume of work. "However, recently we have been receiving an increasing number of inquiries such as "We cannot get our suppliers to disclose their CFP" and "We would like to increase the number of products subject to CFP, but the volume of work is too large to proceed.
He also said that this time there were many other visitors not only from Japan but also from other countries such as Korea, China, Taiwan, India, and Europe.
LCA Plus supports customers in establishing a calculation system in the shortest possible time.
We also offer several services to meet the needs of our clients, from the development of a roadmap for their calculation system to its implementation. We have specialized in CFP calculations and have been the first to deliver solutions, and we will continue to provide the solution in the future.
During the exhibition, a joint seminar was held by "e-dash", a cloud service that visualizes emissions per company, called Scope 1, 2 and 3, and "LCA Plus", a platform service that visualizes emissions per product, called Product LCA. The easy-to-understand explanations of the characteristics of each service attracted the attention of visitors.
Next to Visualization: "Decarbonization Expo" felt the progress of decarbonization
The fourth edition of the Decarbonization Expo was held. Compared to previous years, there was an impression that the base of efforts toward decarbonization management has broadened, including specific emission reduction solutions and companies claiming to educate human resources related to decarbonization. The diversity of the types and levels of visitors and the enthusiasm at the booths was greater than ever, and I strongly felt that Japan's efforts toward decarbonization have moved forward to the next stage.
