News Releases

TOKYO—Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) today announced that it has established a new company in Vietnam with NGUYEN VU Co., Ltd, to promote a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project. The new company, Toshiba Clean Development Service (Vietnam) Co., Ltd., has aquired a CDM business licence from the Vietnamese authorities, and will start operation today, promoting CDM-based business including the supply of biogas.

Toshiba Clean Development Service (Vietnam) will use Toshiba's high concentration organic wastewater treatment technology, to recover biogas, a flammable mixture of methane and carbon-dioxide gas resulting from bacterial decomposition of organic matter, from wastewater discharged by starch factories in Vietnam. It will then supply the recovered gas to the factories as fuel. The project will meet the CDM requirement of cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and also lower the fuel costs of the starch factories. The positive environmental results will be achieved by the project.

In fiscal year 2009, Toshiba Clean Development Service (Vietnam) will construct a plant able to recover greenhouse gases equivalent to emissions of approximately 70,000 tons of CO₂ a year. Operations will start in January 2010. In the future, Toshiba intends to expand the business to other companies that discharge waste water with high concentrations of organic matter, including brewers and food processors. The goal in Vietnam is to recover biogas equivalent to 500,000 tons of CO₂ emissions a year.

Promoting a CDM project in its Social Infrastructure business will allow Toshiba to reinforce its environmental systems business in the emerging business area of emission trading.

Outline of New Company

Toshiba Group, a Corporate Citizen of the Planet Earth, is committed to realizing a better environment. Guided by "Toshiba Group Environmental Vision 2050" the Group is implementing measures to boost environmental efficiency by 10 times in FY2050, against the benchmark of FY2000. The core target is to reduce projected CO₂ emissions by a total equivalent to 117.7 million tons a year by FY2025, through the development and sales of highly efficient power supply equipment and systems, and the manufacture of environmentally conscious home appliances and office equipment. By working to mitigate global warming, make efficient use of resources and control management of chemicals, Toshiba Group creates value for people and promotes lifestyles in harmony with the Earth.