The Weather Freak goes to Japan!

The Weather Freak was invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan to form part of a group from the countries of the Sistema de la Integración de Centroamérica (SICA) to observe and learn of Japan's efforts in energy efficiency and renewable energy. Climate change studies point to an alarming increase in greenhouse gas emissions from developed and developing countries. Japan has created a program called the Cool Earth Initiative 50. This Initiative aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by the year 2050.The Japanese government(specifically the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)[Mofa] invited members from the SICA countries, who signed a document called the Declaration San Pedro Sula in May 2008 in San Pedro Sula,Honduras.The Declaration of San Pedro Sula was a follow up to two previous meetings, one the Summit of Heads of State of SICA and Caricom held in Belize in May 2007 and the Declaration of Santo Domingo held in January, 2008.The common theme running through all these agreements stressed the need for closer bonds of friendship and cooperation about issues such as environmental management, the mitigation of disasters, strategies for sustainable development, the fight against desertification and drought, the generation and consumption of energy to name a few. All the SICA countries represented signed the Declaration of San Pedro Sula last year including Belize's Deputy Prime Minster Hon. Gaspar Vega. Japan was host to a much bigger meeting of leaders and scientists where the Kyoto Protocol was signed with agreement along the same lines as was done in San Pedro Sula.So Japan felt very much compelled to "break the ice" in a manner of speaking with regard to inviting SICA countries to Japan, to learn, observe and also enjoy what Japan has to offer.

Our visit to Japan started in Tokyo the capital. We spent the first few days getting informed through lectures on Japan's efforts at energy efficiency and learned more details on the Cool Earth Initiative. There are about 21 innovative energy technologies associated with the Cool Earth Initiative. These are applied to various sectors such as power generation/transmission, transportation, industry and commercial and residential. Within each sector various innovations are applied. To this end a visit to the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Plant allowed us to see first hand their efforts in energy efficiency and conservation. The MHI manufactures ships, boiler plants, power generators and wind turbines as marketable products. Wind turbines and photo voltaic cells are some other products designed to promote innovative and efficient methods of generating electricity.

Next, we moved to Kyoto, where the Kyoto Protocol was signed a few years ago. Kyoto is home to another innovative project which involves the generation of biodiesel.The biodiesel.The fuel(BDF) production project recycles edible oil(used edible oil) as an alternative to diesel fuel. Using a community based approach, the project involves the collection of used edible oils from households, businesses and the municipalities. After the oil is accepted, it is pretreated and purified several times before stored in a storage tank. The BDF fuel generated at the plant in Kyoto powers about 95 municipal buses and 170 waste collection vehicles.

Our next stop was to the southern island of Kyushu. In Kyushu we visited the training facility for the Japanese International Cooperation Agency(JICA) where we were guests to lectures on energy saving measures in the Japanese work place. Another visit was to the Kokura Power Plant facility. The Kokura plant facility powers the city of  Kitakyushu, an industrial city backed up by high level technologies.Kitakyushu aims at building an Asian oriented international academic and research city.Kitakyushu has been transformed from a very polluted city in the 1960's to a green city today. Mothers led the way in agitating for countermeasures as they became worried about their children's health. The joint effort among residents, companies and local government resulted in a rapid improvement of the environment. Also located on the island of Kyushu is the Nissan Automobile Assembly plant. The Nissan Automobile plant produces about 530,000 vehicles annually. The plant makes extensive use of robots to assemble the cars produced. This was quite an extraordinary sight; seeing mechanical arms moving deftly as they welded, installed and bolted the parts of the each automobile together. The human connection was limited to  end of line checking and testing of the vehicles before preparation for dispatch to the market.

The final stage for the Weather Freak was a one hour flight back to Tokyo. The final day involved a tour of the Ariake Incineration Plant, one of 23 located in Tokyo. Managed by the Clean Association TOKYO23, this is a special government established in April,2000.This Association manages the waste of 23 cities in Tokyo. Waste control trucks collect and transport city waste to the plant for incineration. Through a carefully controlled process the waste in separated into ash and slag. The slag can be used beneficially

The Weather Freak returned home two days later, after a long journey across the Pacific Ocean, quite tired but brimming with new knowledge from his tours of Japan.

Other Feature Articles:

  4. Eye in the Sky-(The use of GIS in Weather Forecasting)

Related links:http://iabm.org ; http://www.preventionweb.net/english/