Nissan committed to a greener, brighter future

Few vehicle manufacturers would now fail to acknowledge the impact that our increased desire for ease of transportation is having on the environment. The advantages of the mobility that we now all enjoy, to the extent of flying across the world in hours rather than days, has equal, and by no means as positive, an impact on the environment in which we live.

The Nissan company has long held a desire to become an ‘eco first’ company through a series of initiatives which were first launched in 1992. The most recent manifestation of this is Nissan’s 2010 Green Programme, based around the company’s desire to create a ‘symbiosis of people, vehicles and nature’. The company has looked at the impact of both its vehicles and the way it does business, identified three key issues, and developed a set of goals for each, designed ultimately to keep the environmental impact of their operations and usage of their vehicles to a level which is within the Earth’s natural ability to absorb such impact. The issues they ascertained as most needing to be addressed are: • the reduction of emissions to atmospheric levels • the minimisation of CO2 emissions • achieving a resource recovery rate of 100 percent. Goals to resolve these have been implemented across all aspects of Nissan’s automotive development, including the company’s forklift programme, as outlined below.

Reduction of emissions

Many industries in New Zealand not only desire reduced emissions, they demand them. Nissan has responded with the only true LPG/petrol ECCS Efiengine on the market in its 1F range. This utilises an automotive-type closed-loop feedback system which significantly reduces emissions when compared to carburettor models (see Figure 1).

Once combustion occurs, a sensor measures the oxygen concentration in the exhaust gases before they enter the three-way catalyst, then sends a signal to the engine control module (ECM). Based on this signal, the ECM makes
the appropriate air/fuel ratio adjustments.

The resulting emission reduction are significant – 98 percent reduction of NOx, 83 percent
CO, and 90 percent reduction in hydrocarbons.

Glenn Ross, materials handling solutions manager at Loadlift, Nissan Forklift’s New Zealand distributor, says: “Nissan has implemented objectives across the board to meet its desire to become an eco innovator, and this is particularly evident in its forklift range, where the company set itself some of the most aggressive emission targets in the industry. The company’s adoption of automotive engine expertise in its manufacture of forklifts has resulted in Nissan becoming the industry leader in clean air technology, and is well ahead of schedule in meeting world emission standards such as CARB (California Air Resources
Board).

“However, what is perhaps even more important is achieving these reductions in emissions without loss of performance – and with the added bonus of reduced fuel consumption,” Glenn adds.

In fact, the 1F series achieves a 5-percent-plus increase in productivity, by increasing maximum output, increasing acceleration by 5 percent and delivering 70 mm/second faster lifting speed (with load), yet at the same time reducing fuel consumption by 5.5 percent (compared once again to carburettor models). Nissan has developed a further fuel reduction feature with its power/economy mode which delivers a further 17 percent reduction in fuel consumption.

Minimisation of CO2 emissions

Nissan’s second goal is to minimise emissions, thereby reducing a Nissan fl eet owner’s overall carbon footprint. This is an ongoing process for Nissan, working to achieve alternative forms of vehicle with zero emissions such as electric and fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs) which use electricity generated from hydrogen and oxygen as their power source; and the world’s first lithium-ion battery-powered forklift, unveiled in 2008.

Resource recovery rate

The third aspect of Nissan’s Green Programme is to recycle, reduce or reuse waste generated through production. Vehicles are designed to reduce the use of impacting substances and make them easier to recycle, which has assisted in Nissan achieving a 95 percent end-of-life vehicle recovery rate in Japan, for all models released in Japan and Europe since 2005, well before the country’s recycling law goal of 2015.

In the spirit of a company committed to advocating major environmental change, Nissan
has progressively reviewed all its manufacturing processes to see ways in which to improve air quality and reduce energy consumption and the amount of non-recyclable materials used. The result is a range of positive initiatives such as the reprogramming
of operational systems that contributed to a 10 percent reduction in energy consumed,
process enhancements in the paint department that reduced water use by 69 percent, and the implementation of single-stream recycling.

Constant review and process development of all aspects of Nissan manufacture, together
with investigation into more ecofocused materials and recycling opportunities, sees Nissan truly focused and committed to a greener, brighter future.

For further information, freephone 0800 LOADLIFT (0800 5623 5438)
or visit www.loadlift.co.nz