Addressing Environmental Risk

The Daigas Group believes that companies have a responsibility to ascertain the environmental impact of their business activities, to take appropriate steps in compliance with international norms, laws and ordinances, and to implement voluntary risk countermeasures.

In response to climate change, which causes global environmental impacts, we are working on mitigation by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing the risk of natural disasters to adapt to climate change. Also, we are pursuing voluntary environmental risk countermeasures in keeping not only with the PRTR Law Act and other domestic laws but also with directives from the European Union (EU) and elsewhere overseas, and are taking action to reduce soil and underground water pollution by toxic substances and control asbestos, chemical substances and PCB waste. We are working with gas equipment manufacturers to develop and manufacture gas equipment with a limited content of chemical substances.

On April 1, 2015, revisions to Japan's Chlorofluorocarbon Emissions Control Act came into force, strengthening management over the lifecycle of chlorofluorocarbons, which are ozone-depleting substances that also cause global warming. Osaka Gas identified commercial refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment covered by the Act and put together a structure for ensuring compliance with it.

There are very few hazardous chemicals handled by Osaka Gas during the processing and supply of natural gas. The Daigas Group will continue to manage and reduce the amount of chemicals it uses under the policies shown below.

Water is not a primary material among the products handled by the Daigas Group. We recognize that the use of water does not pose a major business risk for our Group.
However, the Group controls water discharge after using drinking water, industrial-use water, groundwater and seawater. At power plants, core facilities for its electricity business, the Group uses industrial water as a coolant in a steam turbine condenser, and vaporizes it inside the cooling tower. Drinking water, industrial-use water and groundwater are also used at LNG terminals, power plants and offices, and discharged. Seawater is mainly used for vaporization of LNG in city gas plants and for cooling in steam turbine condensers in some power plants, and is discharged to the sea without being consumed. In discharging water after it is used in our industrial activities, we have controlled its quality in line with relevant laws, ordinances and agreements with local municipalities to ensure that chemical substances such as COD, pH, phosphorus and nitrogen are not contained in the water being discharged in excess of the relevant standards. Thanks to such efforts, there were no violations regarding the quality of water being discharged. Osaka Gas sees water as a limited natural resource. We will continue to use water adequately, control its discharge strictly, and promote water saving.
As for reducing our water intake (drinking water and industrial-use water), we are managing it in step with our efforts to reduce other activities that weigh on the environment, using Environmental Management Indicators.
<FY2022 water intake: drinking water and industrial water 12.172 million m³, groundwater 3.608 million m³, seawater 579.005 million m³>
<FY2022 water discharge: drainage 1.297 million m³, rivers 3.200 million m³, seas 580.861 million m³>

In compliance with relevant laws and regulations, Osaka Gas has checked the possibility of soil pollution at former coal gas production sites by measuring the amount of specified chemical substances contained in the soil and groundwater taken from the sites and assessing their impact on the sites and surrounding areas. The results of the surveys have been disclosed and response measures have been implemented where necessary. For example, when chemical substances (mainly cyanide compounds and benzene) in excess of the maximum amount allowed under the Soil Contamination Countermeasures Law were found, the incidents were reported to administrative authorities and adequate measures, including removal and cleaning the problematic soil, were taken promptly. Before taking soil-improvement measures, we conducted surveys based on relevant laws and regulations, followed by implementing appropriate response measures, including disposing of the contaminated soil and on-site containment of the soil. Below is a list of press releases showing the results of the recent surveys and response measures, all of which have already been implemented. We will continue to take necessary measures based on the Soil Contamination Countermeasures Law.

The status of asbestos use at major facilities and buildings of Osaka Gas, and in its gas equipment, is given below.

Every company in the Daigas Group manages and disposes of waste containing PCBs in accordance with Japan’s Act on Special Measures for Promotion of Proper Treatment of Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) (PCB Special Measures Act).

All capacitors and transformers with a high density of PCBs over 10 kg were disposed of by FY2013. All ballasts and other equipment that contain PCBs were also disposed of by the statutory processing deadline. Low-density PCBs have been consigned to approved decontamination facilities since FY2014 in a systematic process of disposal.

Going forward, we will continue to store and dispose of PCBs properly, in accordance with the government’s disposal schedule and policies.

July 2006 was the start of the RoHS Directive, which restricts the use of specified substances, such as lead and cadmium, in appliances. Also in July 2006, in Japan the revised Law for the Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources went into effect, obligating companies to label products as containing the six substances of the RoHS Directive according to J-MOSS, the JIS standard for the labeling of electrical and electronic products containing chemical substances.

In line with the measures propelled in the automobiles and home appliances sectors, we are working together with gas appliance manufacturers on the development of environmentally-friendly gas appliances and its labeling. Osaka Gas currently does not manufacture or sell gas appliances containing any of the specified substances that require labeling under J-MOSS. Osaka Gas abides by Japanese regulations on chemical substances (the Law Concerning the Examination and Regulation of Manufacture, etc. of Chemical Substances, and the Law for the PRTR and Promotion of Chemical Management). We also engage in independent evaluations of chemical management according to the RoHS Directive and are working to reduce chemical substances outlined therein.

Osaka Gas also works with other industry organizations. We conducts surveys on trends in the European Union including "EuP Directive (Directive requiring environmentally conscious design for products using energy)" and "WEEE Directive (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Recycling Directive)" and provides information not only to other companies in the industry, but also to members of the Japan Gas Equipment Manufacturers Association. To keep up with the EuP Directive amendment, in FY2014 we accumulated the findings of the European Commission through our overseas affiliate, Osaka Gas UK, Ltd.

In the Daigas Group, every new development project, whether in Japan or abroad, follows an environmental impact assessment at the planning stage when required by law. For example, in the process of constructing the Senboku Natural Gas Power Plant, the core facility for the Group’s electricity business, between 2002 and 2006, we conducted an environmental impact assessment covering the construction works (the impact of the transportation of construction materials, including air pollution, noise, and vibration) and the presence and shared use of land and workpieces (the impact of ground modification and the facility’s existence on local flora and fauna and the impact of exhaust gas and wastewater from the facility in operation on the quality of air and water). We also adopted environmental conservation measures against air pollution, noise, vibration, and wastewater in order to further reduce the environmental impact of the project.

Also, in the Himeji Natural Gas Power Plant construction project, which Himeji Natural Gas Power Generation Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Osaka Gas, is implementing, an assessment process has been completed in compliance with the Environmental Impact Assessment Act.

The Daigas Group will continue to not only observe environment-related laws and regulations applicable to the areas where it operates but also pay full consideration to ensuring harmony between its business operations and local social and natural environments.

During FY2022, Osaka Gas did not take any administrative sanction due to the violation of environment-related laws.