Environmental Impact of Telework with Direct Uses of Geothermal Heat: A Case Study of Naruko Area

Abstract

Geothermal potential area in Japan has been depopulated recently, and there have been distances between the geothermal potentials and most energy consumers living in urban areas. Since 2020, working from home (home-based telework) has spread rapidly due to the influence of the COVID-19. If some of the energy consumers work from the geothermal potential area, namely onsen areas, it would help to reduce the extra fossil fuel consumption, to reduce the environmental impact, and to save commuting costs and time. In this study, we quantitatively evaluated the advantages and feasibility of working from onsen in Naruko area, Osaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, as a case study. The environmental effects were analyzed by using the annual CO₂ emissions and the costs, based on the perspective of the form of stay and the life-cycle assessments with four scenario conditions ((a) base system, (b) home-based telework in a city, (c) onsen-based telework (using hot spring only for bathing), and (d) onsen-based telework (using hot spring for bathing and heating)). Compared to the base system, the use of public baths in the onsen area can reduce CO₂ emissions by about 1/3, and the use of bathing and heating by hot springs can reduce CO₂ emissions by about 1/4. In the case of a short-term stay in the onsen area, the effects of reducing CO₂ emission differed depending on the area where the worker is based and the season. The results indicates that some conditions of the short-term stay may results in higher CO₂ emission than when nothing is done. Therefore, we expect that each of urban workers, companies, and onsen areas will change their awareness and take actions to be able to stay in the onsen area for a mid- to long-term.