Ene Farm is a system that produces electricity through an electrochemical reaction between oxygen and hydrogen, and rather than discarding the heat that is generated in the process, the system can use that heat as energy to boil water so that there is no wasted energy.

The fuel cell system from Nippon Oil is designed with LP gas specifications and generates electricity based on the reverse principle of the electrolysis of water.

The system extracts hydrogen from LP gas energy and then implements a chemical reaction between that hydrogen and oxygen from the air in the fuel cell stack to generate electricity.

We're an oil company and therefore we possess unique expertise on extracting hydrogen when oil is refined.

We used that expertise to develop technology to extract hydrogen from LP gas

and were able to successfully develop our own unique fuel cell system.

The Ene Farm system is equipped with a function that enables it to learn the electricity and hot water usage patterns of a home so that the system is automatically operated in accordance with demand.

Hot water increases with power generation, and when the necessary amount of hot water is stored in the hot water tank, the system automatically stops.

In addition, the system is also connected to a backup heat source that boils water when there is not enough hot water, so there is never a concern about running out of hot water.

Also, when a home needs to use more electricity than the maximum amount that can be generated by the Ene Farm system, electricity is supplied from the power company, so there is also never a concern about not having enough electricity.

This is the first year that we will be selling the system, so the system is still rather expensive at 3.2 million yen,

but we're hoping to introduce the system in homes of consumers with a high level of environmental awareness.

Ene Farm generates almost no nitrogen oxides (NOx) or sulfur oxides (SOx), which cause acid rain.

The system also demonstrates an extremely high energy efficiency level of approximately 80% and is therefore able to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which account for the majority of greenhouse gases, by roughly 30% compared to conventional systems.

Advance sales are slated to begin in May 2009.