Tokyo Electric Power Co. reduced its carbon dioxide emissions to 87.4 million tons in fiscal 2001, down 5.2 percent from a year earlier, a Tepco official said Monday.
The reduction was achieved due to enhanced operational efficiency at its nuclear and other power plants, the official said, adding that weaker electricity demand amid the economic slump also played a role.
Tepco cut carbon dioxide emissions per 1 kwh of electricity to 0.317 kg, down 3.4 percent from a year earlier, he said.
Tepco will invest around $8 million (roughly 950 million yen) in the World Bank's Prototype Carbon Fund, hoping to achieve its goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions to around 0.31 kg per kwh of electricity by fiscal 2010, he added.
The Prototype Carbon Fund, currently holding $180 million, was set up in January 2000 to take donations from companies and countries for investment in projects in developing nations that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Countries or companies can count carbon dioxide emission reductions achieved through the projects as their own, depending on how much money they themselves throw into the hat.
The Tepco official said his company is also considering investing in a new fund under consideration by the World Bank that will be used to reduce greenhouse gases under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol aimed at curbing global warming.