Cold facts

Half of the wastewater is reused and all the water for planting is recycled - these are measures Beijing Embraco Snowflake Compressor Co Ltd (BESCO) has taken in its plant.

As a joint venture between the Brazilian refrigerator compressor maker Embraco, Beijing Snowflake Electrical Appliance Group Corp and US home appliance giant Whirlpool, BESCO has used a series of methods to improve the environment of its plant.

"Energy conservation and environmental protection are two priorities for everyone in the company," says Joao Lemos, company general manager.

Two wastewater treatment facilities have been built for the plant. The total investment of this project is $400,000.

The plant has also instituted strict management on the use of electricity and natural gas to conserve energy, says Lemos.

"What's most important, the products that we are manufacturing in the plant are highly energy-efficient," he says.

In the plant the company is producing its EM series of compressors. Refrigerators equipped with the products only consume 0.3 kWh of electricity every day, says Lemos.

"Compared with the conventional product, a fridge with our compressor can save 256 kWh of electricity in a year," he says.

"Statistics showed that China produced 63 million compressors in 2007. If all used our technology, they could save 11.3 billion kWh of electricity in a year."

This equals saving 4.73 million tons of coal equivalent, and the reduction of 11.27 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions and 340,000 tons of sulfur dioxide emissions.

Besides using less electricity, the Embraco products also save the use of steel because they are smaller than the conventional prducts.

The Chinese market

As the world's leading refrigerator compressor manufacturer, Embraco is taking the controlling stake in BESCO and China is of great importance to Embraco.

The plant in Beijing's Shunyi district has become Embraco's manufacturing base in Asia Pacific and it is being expanded to make room for a third production line.

Once finished, Embraco's production capacity in China will increase to 7 million per year.

In line with the Chinese government's efforts to conserve energy and protect environment, Embraco says it will launch a new series for its EM compressors in the country annually.

This year the company has launched its EMC series, which is so far the most energy efficient mini compressor on the global market.

The company will first sell the product in China and then promote it in other countries, says Lemos.

The company is also focusing on its research and development (R&D) in China and has built its second largest R&D center in Beijing.

"With this center we can provide more tailor-made services to our local customers. Today we not only sell our products to customers in China, but also supply full solutions to them. What's more, we even take part in some parts of their R&D work."

At present Embraco is cooperating with Tsinghua University and Shanghai Jiaotong University to conduct research work.

"Today China has become our major market in the Asia Pacific, accounting for 20 percent of our global sales," says Lemos.

"Now in the country all the big refrigerator makers are our customers, including domestic companies such as Haier and Hisense, and international giants like Siemens and Sharp."

Facing the global financial crisis Embraco is increasingly focusing on emerging markets such as China for further growth.

"The financial crisis has affected our sales in some markets like the North America. and we need to achieve higher growth in markets like China and Brazil to compensate for the decline in those markets."

"China is now the world's largest manufacturer of fridges and freezers, and the government is continuously improving the energy consumption standard in the sector. All this offers big opportunities for us."

(China Daily 12/08/2008 page5)