Contribute to Carbon-Free Society

Toward realizing a sustainable society and achieving carbon neutrality, natural energy generated using wind and solar power, as well as hydrogen produced from natural energy that does not emit CO₂ during combustion, are attracting attention as next-generation clean energy sources.
To utilize hydrogen, technological development is actively progressing in all aspects of ”production, transportation, storage, and use.” Our company proposed the ”Hydrogen Station Cost Reduction and Advanced Foundation Technology Development Project” together with Kyushu University and others in the ”Technology Development Project for Building a Competitive Supply Chain” that NEDO solicited, and was selected. Our company is developing resin piston rings used in high-pressure hydrogen gas compressors in this project. In the development of these piston rings, we are utilizing tribology technology related to resin materials that we have cultivated over many years in the development, manufacturing, and sales of engineering plastic sliding components to improve durability and reliability.

Wakayama Works, which began full-scale operation in 2023, introduced an on-site PPA※1 model, and by covering all electricity usage from factory facilities to offices with CO₂-free power, is expected to reduce monthly CO₂ emissions by approximately 85% and 589 tons annually compared to using conventional power.
(Related News : NTN Has Introduced On-site PPA to Wakayama Works|Press Release:2024|News|NTN Global)

※1)On-site PPA (Power Purchase Agreement)
A mechanism for procuring electricity by having a third-party PPA operator install solar power generation equipment on the company’s premises and paying electricity fees to the PPA operator.

Our company will contribute to the advancement of hydrogen infrastructure development by developing related products utilizing our know-how in tribology technology and evaluation in hydrogen environments and will contribute to achieving carbon neutrality and realizing a sustainable society by continuously working to reduce the environmental impact of our own factories.

Response to EVs and electrification

Toward achieving carbon neutrality, electrification and EVs are advancing in automobiles. One of the challenges for EV vehicles is extending driving range, with miniaturization/weight reduction and high efficiency required for in-vehicle components, including key components used in electric drive units (e-Axles). Our company contributes to energy saving in EV vehicles through development of innovative heat treatment technology ”HA-C” that doubles static load capacity and enables replacement with smaller bearings than conventional ones, ”High-efficiency, Low-vibration Drive Shafts” that achieve world-class transmission efficiency and low vibration, and Low Friction Hub Bearing V that achieves up to 64% friction reduction compared to conventional products, all for improving vehicle power efficiency.

For fuel efficiency and power efficiency improvements in EVs and HEVs, and to extend driving range, there are increasing demands for further high efficiency and miniaturization/weight reduction of key components used in electric drive units (e-Axles). Our company has further advanced heat treatment technology, which is one of our core competencies, and developed special heat treatment technology ”HA-C” that achieves industry-leading high load capacity using general steel materials without requiring changes to bearing shape design.
This technology improves static load capacity and increases rolling fatigue life under heavy load conditions by more than seven times through functions such as dispersing numerous hard, fine precipitates in the material. This high load capacity enables replacement with smaller and lighter bearings than conventional ones.
Furthermore, this technology achieves both high-temperature dimensional stability, foreign matter resistance, and wear resistance at high levels, which were difficult with conventional heat treatment technology, and can respond to the harsh operating environments of e-Axles such as high-temperature environments and lean lubrication.
This technology can also be applied to our existing products such as high-speed rotation bearings and electric corrosion-resistant bearings for e-Axles, and solves technical challenges faced by rolling bearings used in automotive drive devices such as e-Axles.
Going forward, we will advance product development of this technology to contribute to further miniaturization/weight reduction and energy saving in automotive drive devices, and work on continuous advancement of heat treatment technology toward creating new value.
(Related News : NTN Develops Special Heat Treatment Technology “HA-C,” Contributing to Downsizing and Lightening of Drive Units for Automobiles|New Products:2024|Product and Technology|NTN Global)

Our company is advancing the development of high-function products that respond to diverse market needs, such as pursuing low friction and high efficiency of our main products–drive shafts, hub bearings, and bearings–toward extending EV driving range, as well as addressing electrical corrosion, a challenge specific to e-Axle bearings.
In response to market needs for higher efficiency, we began mass production of ”High Efficiency/Shudderless Driveshafts” that achieve world-class transmission efficiency and low vibration for drive shafts. Replacement with our conventional products is expected to provide a 3.19% improvement effect in power consumption.
(Related News : NTN Starts Proposal of High Efficiency/Shudderless Driveshaft for EVs|New Products:2024|Product and Technology|NTN Global)

For hub bearings, we have developed ”Low Friction Hub Bearing V” that achieves up to 64% friction reduction compared to conventional products by applying newly developed low-torque grease to both the bearing interior and seal-applied grease. This is expected to provide approximately 0.75% improvement in power consumption compared to our conventional products.
(Related News : NTN Expands “Low Friction Hub Bearing” Series|New Products:2024|Product and Technology|NTN Global)

For electric corrosion countermeasures in e-Axle bearings, to respond to diversifying functional requirements, we have developed ”Resin Mold Insulated Bearings” that ensure insulation performance of over 1,000V voltage resistance by injection molding resin insulation layers on the outer ring outer diameter and width surfaces of bearings, and added them to our lineup of insulation items. They can handle battery voltages of 800V, which are expected to increase, and have achieved durability that can be used in the wide temperature environments required for e-Axles.
(Related News : NTN Develops “Resin Mold Insulated Bearing” for e-Axle|New Products:2024|Product and Technology|NTN Global)

In the automotive market going forward, demand for high-efficiency, high-function bearings responding to EV/HEV driving range extension and quietness improvement is expected to expand. We will continue to enhance our product lineup through utilization of our core competencies and incorporation of next-generation technologies, advancing product development that anticipates market needs and contributes to carbon neutrality.

Manufacturing equipment at high efficiency

Generally, approximately 20-30% of power consumption in manufacturing plants is said to be from air compressor power consumption. Therefore, in order to reach carbon neutrality in the industrial machinery field, reducing air compressor power consumption, that is, reducing air usage, is important.
In machine tools where spindle speed is increasing, air-oil lubricated bearings are generally used as spindle support bearings in high-speed rotation environments exceeding dmn values of 1.4 million, but our company has developed ”High Speed and Long Operating Life Grease” that enables replacement with grease-lubricated bearings that do not require air supply. By reviewing the components of thickener, base oil, and additives and optimizing the blending ratio, we achieved a dmn value of 1.9 million—the industry’s highest level for grease-lubricated bearings.
(Related News : Industry’s Highest Level in High Speed Rotational Performance! NTN Develops “High Speed and Long Operating Life Grease” for Grease Lubricated Bearings for Machine Tool Spindles|New Products:2024|Product and Technology|NTN Global)

Furthermore, we developed a ”Lubricating Unit for Grease Lubricated Bearings for Machine Tool Spindles” that achieves more than 2.5 times the lubrication life compared to conventional products by using self-generated power from main spindle rotation to supply oil to grease-lubricated bearings at preset time intervals, securing durability of grease-lubricated bearings in high-speed rotation environments at dmn values of 1.9 million. We are currently advancing consideration of oil supply control based on sensing lubricant depletion states, aiming for further life extension.
(Related News : NTN Develops “Lubricating Unit for Grease Lubricated Bearings for Machine Tool Spindles”|New Products:2024|Product and Technology|NTN Global)

Our company will continue to contribute to creating a carbon-neutral society through the development and provision of product technologies that contribute to reducing air consumption and power saving in manufacturing equipment, such as higher speed, longer life, and lower torque for grease-lubricated bearings.

“We shall contribute to international society through creating new technologies and developing new products.” Under this corporate philosophy, we are committed to environmentally-friendly manufacturing. We are especially focused on developing technologies that help to prevent global warming.
The components we manufacture, such as bearings and driveshafts, contribute to reducing environmental impact by improving the energy efficiency of vehicles and machinery. All of these are known as ”environment-contributing products.” Among them are products that are already widely used, as well as new products that achieve even better environmental performance as a result of our technologies.
NTN is also developing products that utilize renewable energy such as solar and wind power, helping to drive down CO₂ emissions.
We quantify the degree of environmental contribution of such products using our own standards. NTN will continue its pursuit of its corporate philosophy by developing and supplying higher-contributing products.

Evaluation of environment-contributing products

NTN compares and evaluates the environmental performance of current products using the performance levels of 1997 as a baseline. Environment-contributing products are classified into five grades from ”S-eco” to ”D-eco” according to their degree of environmental contribution, based on standards established for each product.

Achievements

In fiscal year 2024, our flagship products including driveshafts (CVJs) and hub bearings, as well as green energy products, contributed to reducing approximately 1.89 million tons of CO₂. This demonstrates that the development of our environment-contributing products is achieving results.
Sales of products making a high environmental contribution in the S-eco to B-eco range grew to account for approximately 53.9% of total sales in FY2024.

■Net sales

■Trends in composition of environment-contributing products by grade (driveshafts, hub bearings, etc.)

■Contribution to CO₂ reduction