Re these two stories Hoagy posted, "Japan: Country Eyes Bioenergy-fueled Plants, Cars in 2010" and "Japan: Environment Ministry High on Alcohol-Fueled Vehicles", it's very gratifying to see that the major focus is on waste, and on the community level. Most previous proposals have been high-tech stuff for big industry, so this really is a change.
One of the movers behind these proposals is Associate Prof. Yuta Harago at Meiji-Gakuin University, who runs the Biomass Industrial Society Network. He previously did a lot of work with biomass in Brazil, working with Mercedes-Benz and local communities there, and in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America, and more recently here. He spent time with us in Tokyo, and much time at our website, and he's been a Biofuel list member for a year now. His book on biomass energy for Japan was published here last month, and is proving very influential. The first chapter starts like this: "Example one - Running a car on handmade energy", and continues with a Japanese translation of the following, which might sound familiar: "We turned our kitchen into a sort of illicit still and made a hell of a mess in there brewing biodiesel fuel out of about 60 litres of yukky waste cooking oil we got from behind McDonald's one night (they were happy to give it to us once we told them we didn't want to eat it). We were sure it would work, but we had to make it ourselves first -- we're not chemists, and if we can make it anyone can. And it works! Amazing! Last night we put the stuff in Midori's old diesel Land Rover and it ran like a dream and smelt like a bunch of roses! Well, French fried roses anyway. Now it runs clean, on waste Big Mac residues we brewed up in a bucket in the kitchen, and we're very tickled!" With the link: http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel.html Biodiesel: Journey to Forever :-) Quite a lot of the information comes from our website. We're still in touch with Yuta, we get notified of the meetings and conferences and so on, but we don't go, especially since we're not in Tokyo now, but also, rather than the level where 500 communities get selected for trials, we prefer working in one community, from the ground up, and we'll be doing that in a rural community in Ichijima from next month. This will be the final phase of our project here in Japan before leaving on the rest of our journey. Best Keith Journey to Forever >Japan: Environment Ministry High on Alcohol-Fueled Vehicles > Dec 16, 2002 > The Asahi Shimbun > http://www.asahi.com/english/national/K2002121600230.html > > An Environment Ministry study group will propose a policy of >blending alcohol into > gasoline to create a cleaner fuel for motor vehicles-a move that >could radically change > the auto industry. > > The initial goal is to help the nation achieve its greenhouse gas >reduction target under > the Kyoto Protocol. But the ultimate aim is to have the blended fuel, with a > plant-derived ethanol content of 10 percent, completely replace >regular gasoline, > according to the group headed by Waseda University professor Katsuya Nagata. > > The group, which includes scientists and representatives of the >auto industry, was set > up to study technology to deal with global warming. > > For its part, the ministry will promote the spread of vehicles >capable of using the > blended fuel. The ministry intends to begin the switch as early as 2008. > > The Kyoto Protocol obliges Japan to reduce greenhouse gases such as >carbon dioxide > by 6 percent from the 1990 level during the period from 2008 to 2012. > > The study group determined that motor vehicles belch out about 20 percent of > greenhouse gas emissions in Japan. > > If regular gasoline is converted to the blended fuel, it would be >possible to reduce > emissions by 1 percent from the 1990 level, according to the study group. > > The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has already started to >develop a system > to promote the spread of low-concentration blended gasoline >containing between > 1 percent and 5 percent plant-derived ethanol. > > The Environment Ministry in fiscal 2003 will conduct safety tests >to establish whether > the low-concentration blended gasoline can be used in existing >vehicles. The ministry > also plans to set up and subsidize low-concentration blended fuel >pumps at gasoline > stands in some regions. > > In addition, it will urge the auto industry to produce 2003 models >capable of using gas > containing 10 percent ethanol. > > Enabling vehicles to handle the blended fuel would require >automakers to change the > catalytic control device, which removes nitrogen dioxides. The >Environment Ministry > plans to subsidize the cost of changing this device. > > The cost of the ethanol-gasoline mix is currently about 30 percent >higher than that of > regular gasoline, mainly because ethanol must be refined after >being imported. > > But the price will come down to the level of regular gasoline when >the government > lowers the tariff on ethanol and improves the refining process. > > Fuel containing alcohol is progressing in Europe and the United >States. In the United > States, blended gasoline containing 10 percent ethanol has a 12 >percent market share. > > The European Union is currently considering making compulsory a >certain percentage > of blended materials in gasoline. (IHT/Asahi: December 16,2002) > > Japan: Country Eyes Bioenergy-fueled Plants, Cars in 2010 > Dec 19, 2002 > http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=4&id=243380 > > Japan aims to introduce an ambitious program intended to recycle >leftover food, livestock droppings > and scrap wood as biomass energy to fuel cars, ships and power >plants, starting in 2010, according to > a report obtained Thursday. A final government draft of the >Biomass Nippon (Japan) strategy, > obtained by Kyodo News, says the government will designate some 500 >communities as model areas > for intensively implementing projects to utilize biomass energy. Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
