Toshiba Promises Greener Future
Toshiba’s President of Digital Products and Services, Masaaki Osumi, has addressed the IFA in Berlin with his vision for a more environmentally-friendly digital future. He said he was shocked by the pwer shortages which followed the earthquake and tsunami in Japan this year, saying he realized he and many other Japanese ‘take electricity for granted’. He said that despite reports in the global media of an orderly and well-organized response by the Japanese people, batteries and LED lighting vanished from sale as people rushed to buy them in an overreaction to the crisis.
With the entire country in power-saving mode, Toshiba quickly launched TVs with battery back-up and ‘peak-shift PCs’ that switch from AC to battery during periods of countrywide peak demand. The digital products department of Toshiba co-operated closely with the Japanese power and infrastructure sectors in preparing solutions ranging from digital products to energy-management infrastructure. He now expects energy-management technologies to be a central focus in the digital industry.
Toshiba was directly involved in damage-limitation exercises in Fukushima, dispatching upwards of 100 engineers to the plants in Fukushima to provide technical support and co-operation with other companies involved in the catastrophe.
Toshiba rep at IFA explained how energy management at a global level is crucial in creating a sustainable society. Just how energetically Toshiba will be pursuing the energy-efficient agenda was indicated when Osuma said that before the earthquake Toshiba’s aim to ‘build a better life’ focused on material satisfaction and wealth, with a focus for digital products on ‘convenience’ and ‘fun’, ie the production of increasingly powerful machines. Now performance issues will have to be tempered with concerns for sustainability.
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