The Land of Rising Conservation (Japan - NYT)

[jpak]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/06/business/worldbusiness/06japanfuel.html?_r=1&bl&ex=1168318800&en=4e3c90a7b5edf11c&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin

TOKYO, Jan. 5 — In many countries, higher oil prices have hurt pocketbooks and led to worries about economic slowdowns. But here in Japan, Kiminobu Kimura, an architect, says he has not felt the pinch. In fact, his monthly energy bill is lower than a year ago.

Kiminobu Kimura of Tokyo uses a home fuel cell, a machine that resembles a filing cabinet and sits in front of his house.

A reason is his new home fuel cell, a machine as large and quiet as a filing cabinet that sits in front of his house and turns hydrogen into electricity and cold water into hot — at a fraction of regular utility costs. But even with the futuristic device, which is available for now only in Japan, Mr. Kimura has not let up on the other shortcuts that leave him unscathed by last year’s oil squeeze.

Energy-efficient appliances abound in the many corners of his cramped home. There is the refrigerator that beeps when left open and the dishwasher that is compact enough to sit on the kitchen counter. In some homes, room heaters have a sensor that directs heat only toward occupants; there are “energy navigators” that track a home’s energy use.

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[Dead_Parrot]

1. Hmpf

non-subsciption version
The device works by converting natural gas into hydrogen, which the fuel cell then uses to generate electricity.

Hardly a giant leap forward, then. Or maybe he's sequesting the carbon?

Some of the other gadgets sound good, though.

[YankeyMCC]

2. More important than the gadets is the

life style and atitude I think.

Living on what's necessary, not consuming more than is needed to be healthy and happy. Being generally concious of your impact and doing what you can to minimize it.

[jpak]

6. It's a major step forward

These mini-CHP fuel cells utilize >80% of the energy in the natural gas they consume - and they can use hydrogen produced from renewable sources as well (i.e., electrolysis of water).

If that natural gas were burned in a central station power plant (with no district heating or cooling) 60% of that energy would be dissipated as unused heat.

IIRC, by 2030, ~50% of Japanese homes will be equipped with PV - all they have to do then is add on an electrolyser and a storage tank to make and use H2.

The best (widely available) US Energy Star rated refrigerators use 300-400 kWh per year (yes yes I know some Sunfrost models are better) - some the the new Japanese fridges use only 160 kWh per year.

Unfortunately, these are not available in the US (I would be first in line for one of these).

(...but I did think that reusing-the-bath-water thing was a little icky...)

[The2ndWheel]

3. Are those that needed?

"refrigerator that beeps when left open"

If we need a beep for this, we've got bigger problems than any beep can solve.

"dishwasher that is compact enough to sit on the kitchen counter"

Can't just wash a dish? How many dishes are you putting in a compact dishwasher? You get a plate, a fork, a cup, and quickly wash them. It's actually less time spent than using a dishwasher.

"room heaters have a sensor that directs heat only toward occupants"

And then what? Is there a force field around the occupant? Is it a small chamber like Superman had? Wouldn't it be easier to put a sweater on if you're going to have such a room heater? Then again, it couldn't be a "room" heater, could it?

This is needlessly complicating solutions. This is the problem.

[YankeyMCC]

4. THe bigger point is that they Put on Sweaters

so to speak.

People seem focused on the gadgetry aspect of the article, that isn't what struck me but perhaps that's how it comes across. What I saw as the main theme of the article was the life style.

They only heat rooms when needed. The entire family sleeps in a single heated room in the coldest times. They don't have a home two or three times larger than they need. They reuse, recycle and reduce.

The efficiency gadgets is just one aspect and the real point there is that these efficient gadgets are able to be successfully marketed there because people are energy conscious.

[The2ndWheel]

5. I didn't see the other link

I hear where you're coming from.

"Japan’s obsession with conservation stems from an acute sense of insecurity in a resource-poor nation that imports most its energy"

This being the most important point I think.

[jpak]

7. All the studies I've seen concluded that dishwashers consume less energy and water

than hand washing.

I'd like to see these available in the US.

We have IR sensors that turn on and off the lights in all the "WCs" in my office building. They work great and save a lot of electricity. It was strange at first, but no one thinks about them now...