No. 144: Building the concept of urban coalfield to help a local government get revenue (November 18, 2013)

Technology:

Toshiba got an order from a local government in the Tokyo metropolitan area for a plant to produce fuel using sludge coming from the sewerage treatment plant jointly with JEF Engineering. Toshiba’s technology eliminates water from sludge and heats the dewatered sludge for 2-3 hours, and produces fuel that has a half amount of energy as coal. Sludge is heated at 160-170 degrees centigrade for one hour to eliminate water in the first stage, and subsequently heated at 400-600 degrees centigrade for one-two hours in the second stage. As fuel for these two stages, Toshiba’s technology uses flammable gases, such as methane and carbon monoxide, and recycles waste heat. Auxiliary fuel, such as city gas and heavy oil, accounts only for several percentages in the fuel used for burning.  

 The concept of urban coalfield is no longer a dream.

It is possible to produce 80-100 kg of fuel from one ton of sludge. Toshiba’s technology produces fuel that has 60-70% calorie as coal, and the produced fuel can be used for fuel in cement plants and coal-fired thermal power stations. The first plant to be constructed by Toshiba will treat 62,000 tons of dewatered sludge annually. In addition to producing fuel, Toshiba’s technology can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 80% as compared with the existing method that reduces volume of sludge by dewatering and burning.

What is more, Toshiba’s technology will help the local government get revenue by selling the produced fuel. This is the concept of urban coalfield. As of 2010, 78% of sludge is recycled, and 40% of the recycled sludge is used as a raw material of cement and only 1% is recycled as energy. It is expected that fuel equivalent to 1.5 million tons of coals can be produced by utilizing sewage sludge annually in Japan.

 

 Producing fuel for power plants from sewage sludge

No. 143: Technology to recycle polycarbonate ABS resin used in flat-screen TVs (November 7, 2013)

Technology:

Sharp established a technology to recycle high-performance resin polycarbonate ABS resin used in flat-screen TVs. Because prolonged use deteriorates polycarbonate ABS resin, it cannot easily be recycled for home electric appliances. The company developed an additive to recover the deterioration in collaboration with Kansai Recycle Systems in Hirakata city, Osaka Prefecture. This additive allows used polycarbonate ABS to recover almost the same product characteristics as new one, and the cost to recycle polycarbonate ABS with this additive is expected to be the same as the cost to use new one. 

 Parts of in-car air-purifier that employ 

recycled polycarbonate ABS

Polycarbonate ABS accounts for more than 50% of all resins used in flat-screen TVs. Although it is a major material characterized by impact resistance and flame resistance, it is currently recycled for only sundries because of the difficulty of recycling. Sharp plans to use recycled polycarbonate ABS for new flat-screen TVs, but only 3 million flat-screen TVs are being recovered annually at present, a well below the break-even point for recycling. Accordingly, recycled polycarbonate ABS will presumably be applied to new flat-screen TVs beginning in 2018. In the initial stage, it will be used for in-car air-purifiers.   

 High precision resin sorting equipment

No. 142: Japanese plan to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions worldwide toward 2050 (August 8, 2013)

Technology:

The Council for Science and Technology Policy laid down an environmental energy innovation plan to reduce Japan’s CO2 emissions by about 15% from the present level toward 2050 as Japan’s contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide to 50% by 2050. The new plan specified the seven major fields for the reduction and set a target value in each field.

Environment Energy Innovation Plan

Field	Target
Electric vehicle and plug-in-hybrid vehicle	Help the world reduce CO2 emissions by 1.7 billion tons by decreasing the battery cost
Innovative structural materials	Help the world reduce CO2 emissions by 4.7 billion tons by reducing the weight of a vehicle
Artificial photosynthesis	Increase the conversion efficiency of photocatalyst to 10% by 2021
Wind generation	Help the world reduce CO2 emissions by 3.0 billion tons through the practical use of floating offshore wind generation
Utilization of ocean energy	Reduce the generation cost of tidal power and wave power to less than 20 yen/kW
Geothermal generation	Help the world reduce CO2 emissions by 500 million tons by spreading generation that utilizes low-temperature hot water

The plan will formally be approved at the end of August and submitted to the General Assembly of the United Nations this September and COP19 this November. Japan reviewed the plan for the first time since 2008. The roadmap of the new plan covers 37 fields including the above six fields.

In the innovative structural materials, Japan plans to increase the strength and ductility of steel, magnesium materials, ceramics, and carbon-fiber composites to reduce the weight and production cost of a vehicle. The Council reckons that the spread of these materials as vehicle materials will help the world reduce CO2 emissions by 4.7 billion tons in 2050. In the field of artificial photosynthesis, the government wishes to increase the energy conversion rate by 30 times of the present level to 10% by 2021 through the development of a film that can separate hydrogen from water.   

Ocean thermal energy conversion (image)

No. 141: Innovative approaches to power saving emerge one after another (June 24, 2013)

Technology:

Venture companies specializing in power saving are advancing their competitive edge. Sassor will start to provide retail and restaurant chains with consulting on power saving. They put a special device on the distribution switchboard and measure the operational status of air-conditioners and dishwaters. They analyze collected data on power consumption and use frequency, and display their suggestions automatically on the tablets installed on each outlet. Comparing the operational status of equipment between outlets will help the chain to work out effective measures for power saving. They also plan to draw typical patterns of wasteful spending and submit them to the chain for more effective measures.

PICO ADA provides hospital and hotels with an optimization control service of electricity, gas, and water supply. In these facilities, power is needed to circulate water for kitchens and bathrooms. They save water to reduce power consumption of pumps and adjust the volume of air-conditioners. They forecast hourly change of weather by simulating data from the Meteorological Agency using their self-developed software. Their approach can reduce energy and water supply charges by 15%. A hospital with 300 beds supposedly can reduce expenditure by 10 million yen per year. They offer the equipment and operation support for 4,200,000 yen per year. They collect and analyze data from 1,500 facilities across the country to improve the control program constantly for higher accuracy. 

   A campaign girl distributes uchiwa (paper fan) to pedestrians 

on the street as the easiest and cheapest way of energy saving.

No. 140: Japanese environmental technology is increasing its presence in Asia and Africa (June 4, 2013)

Business trend:

The Japanese government will reach an agreement with Ethiopia shortly to get an emission quota of carbon dioxide from Ethiopia in exchange for providing it with state-of-the-art environmental technology. The first technology to be transferred to Ethiopia will be the geothermal generation technology. In East Africa, geothermal generation is promising because a great rift zone made up of volcanoes exists. Ethiopia is in urgent need of power source other than hydraulic power generation to cope with rapid growth of economy and population. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has been assisting Japanese companies in their survey on geothermal generation in this area. The Japanese government is also expected to reach an agreement with Indonesia on Japan’s support for infrastructure improvement. The Ministry of Environment will help Indonesia build waste disposal plants and improve the waster supply and sewerage systems in such large cities as Surabaya.

Major countries with which Japan is negotiating on the bilateral quota system

Status	Country	Environmental technology to be transferred
Agreement has already been concluded	Mongolia Bangladesh	Highly-efficient thermal power generation
Agreement will likely be concluded shortly	Ethiopia Indonesia	Geothermal generation
Negotiations are in progress	Vietnam, India, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia	Biomass generation, off-shore wind generation, energy-saving technology, water supply and sewerage systems, waste treatment
Negotiations are in progress	Kenya	Photovoltaic generation, geothermal generation

Japan proposed the bilateral credit system that allows providing environmental technology to set off emissions of greenhouse gases as a system after 2020 when the Kyoto Protocol ends. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has been assisting Japanese companies in their survey on geothermal generation in this area. Japan proposed the bilateral credit system that allows providing environmental technology to set off emissions of greenhouse gases as a system after 2020 when the Kyoto Protocol ends. Japan has already agreed with Mongolia and Bangladesh on the bilateral quota system. Thanks to the strenuous efforts of Japanese government officials, Japanese environmental technology is increasing its presence in Asia and Africa steadily. 

Potential of geothermal generation

 

No. 139: A demonstrative driving experiment of small EV trucks starts in Tokyo (March 4, 2013)

Technology: 
Yamato Transport that is the leader of Japan’s home delivery business, Toyota, and Hino will start a demonstrative driving experiment of small EV trucks by the end of this month. The small EV trucks used in the experiment carry a load of one ton and travel about 20-30 km per day. They carry a refrigerated compartment and a chillroom for the refrigerated courier service. The research team will study advantages including reducing environmental load to be realized by the switchover of the fuel from light oil to electricity and the performance of batteries.

The small EV truck travels about 100 km per charge. The motor is housed below the driver’s seat, and the height of load-carrying platform is about 44 cm, about half of the height of the current load-carrying platform, to increase the efficiency of loading and unloading of the cargo. The two experimental small EV trucks will be in service in Tokyo until February 2014.

    

 

The experimental small EV trucks will

　travel inside Tokyo until February 2014

 

No. 138: Nittsu’s Grass-roots activities to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in Asia (January 2, 2013)

Business trend:

Beginning in 2013, Nippon Express (Nittsu) that is Japan’s largest transportation company will give guidance to truck drivers about energy-saving driving in Vietnam to reduce CO2 emissions by 7%. The company plans to expand the grass-roots activities to Indonesia and Thailand and ultimately wishes to apply the energy-saving driving to hundreds of thousands of trucks it operates worldwide. It will use the reduced amount as its emission allowances. It reckons that it will be able to reduce about 950,000 tons of CO2 that it emitted in Japan in 2011 to nearly zero should it introduce the energy saving driving to 200,000 trucks.

The guidance about energy saving driving is under way in Malaysia. Based on the results in Malaysia, the company reckons that it will be possible to reduce 5 tons of CO2 emissions per truck per year in Vietnam if the energy-saving driving technique becomes widespread. Vietnamese drivers will be instructed to stop idling while waiting for the green signal. In addition, trucks will be loaded with the latest driving control system that tells where the driver made a hard stop and sudden acceleration besides showing fuel consumption of each driver.  

The green letters show that the driver is 

traveling in the energy-saving mode. 

No. 137: A technology to recycle liquid crystal display TVs completely (January 1, 2013)

Technology:

Sharp developed a technology to recycle used liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs completely in alliance with Osaka Prefecture University. They successfully created zeolite by reacting pulverized glass in the alkaline solution. Zeolite is expected to enjoy stable demand because it can be used as a soil improvement agent. 

Glass of LCD panel is hard to recycle because it has a protective film on it, and LCD TV makers provide it to recycling manufacturers as a cement material for virtually free. The LCD TV is subject to Home Appliance Recycling Law, and consumes share the cost for recycling. They pay about 2,800 yen for each larger-than-16 inch LCD TV. It is estimated that 600,000 LCD TVs were discarded in 2011. The number of discarded LCD TVs is estimated to increase to 2,600,000 units in 2015 and 5,000,000 units in 2020. Sharp plans to put the technology into practical use in 2015 and provide it to other home electronics companies. 

Recyling LCD TVs

Sharp developed a technology for 

complete recycling of LCD TVs