Written by: Abdul WASEEM
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Globally, 173.34 billion MWh of energy was consumed in 2019, of which nearly 84.3% came from fossil fuels, 11.4% came from renewable sources, and 4.3% came from nuclear sources. The combustion of fossil fuels for energy releases CO2 and other greenhouse gases, which trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, making them the primary drivers of climate change.
Tire manufacturing, on average, requires 828.8 MJ (230 KWh) of energy. The manufacturing sector in Japan consumed over 361 million MWh of energy on average in 2019. According to a report, Japan sources 88.9% of its energy from fossil fuels. Japan is on the verge of severe climate change effects; a rise of 3 meters of water would put nearly 200 km2 of the area under water. Japan consumed a total of 5.18Bn MWh of energy in 2019, with a per capita energy consumption of 40.9 MWh.
The Yokohama Rubber Company is a Japan-based rubber tire manufacturing company. In 2019, the company consumed 6,783,477 MWh (6.78 Mn MWh) of energy. The company mentions transition towards renewables; however, there is no tangible data about this. Thus the total energy consumed by the company is obtained from non-renewable sources. The company’s energy consumption increased from 5,176,948 MWh in 2017 to 6,783,477 MWh in 2019, a 31% increase.
The non-renewable energy of the company is equivalent to 4,807,331 tCO2e (4.80 Mn tCO2e). The company’s energy consumption was equivalent to the primary energy consumption of 165,899 people in Japan for one year. The energy is also equal to 1.87% of Japan’s manufacturing industry’s energy consumption in 2019.
Yokohama Rubber is consuming a massive amount of energy. Although the company mentioned renewable energy, there is no transparency or any data about renewable energy procurement. The company needs to take stringent measures to shift towards renewable rapidly and reduce its negative impact on the environment.
