Sony Music Communications Inc. (SMC), an arm of Sony Music Entertainment Inc., has started using green power at its recording division by adopting the Green Power Certification System of Japan Natural Energy Company (JNEC). The Sony Music Studio in Tokyo, the recording division of SMC, is indirectly using 300,000 kWh per year of green power generated by the Choshi-Byobugaura Wind Power Station in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, to meet a part of its power requirements.

This is the first attempt to use green electricity in a recording studio in Japan. The annual consumption of 300,000 kWh of green power has the effect of reducing 120 tons of CO2 emissions, equivalent to the annual CO2 absorption of about 8,700 Japanese cedars, according to the conversion formula developed by the Energy Conservation Center, Japan.

SMC intends to promote global environmental preservation in the entertainment industry to raise environmental awareness among youngsters.

The Green Power Certification System is a scheme to trade the environmental value of renewable energy in the market in the form of Certificates of Green Power. JNEC has been selling the certificates in Japan since fiscal year 2001. Japan for Sustainability has also adopted this system in its office.