Fujitsu Readies Green Laptop

Fujitsu is set to show off the prototype of a laptop encased in wooden housing at a European design expo.

People got get a first glimpse of the WoodShell laptop, created to be a sustainable design, at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile show in Milan. The new laptop will be part of the show's Japan Design 2008 -- Innovation exposition.

The prototype of the WoodShell uses natural materials, such as forest-thinned cedar and bio-based plastics for its housing and parts, according to Fujitsu.

Fujitsu also plans to display its FMV-BIBLO NX95Y/D, a notebook that uses bio-based plastic materials for part of its housing, at the Milan show. The notebook is only available in Japan, the company said.

"Amid growing concern over environmental problems, bio-based plastics have attracted considerable attention as an environmentally friendly material which lowers the burden on the environment by using less petrochemical-based materials to reduce carbon dioxide emissions," Fujitsu said in a statement.

The company also noted that in 2002, Fujitsu first developed corn-based plastic to use in building computer parts. Though the original bio-based plastic was used for a limited number of small parts, a newly developed bio-based plastic makes up about 30% of the plastic material in the housing of the FMV-BIBLO NX95Y/D, the company said.