During a policy-making process of low-carbon policies, contribution of various programs to emission reduction will be a useful input if it is shown in quantitative and consistent manner, as well as contribution of various stakeholders. We propose a methodology which describes mutual relationship between a large number of programs and stakeholders applying DSM (design structure matrix). Several examples of application are presented in order to demonstrate some of possible analysis.

View full abstract

 It is necessary to understand amount of the future CO₂ emission and material stock flow in order to attain a sustainable society. In this study, we estimated future CO₂ emissions and material stock flow of urban structures by municipalities in the Hokuriku region. The result for the “B scenario and technology introduction” in 2050 were 30.5Mt of CO₂ emissions, 7.5Mt of material input, 426.2Mt of material stock, and 19.9Mt of material output. In conclusion, population decline caused by failing birth rate, intensifying urban areas, and the lifetime improvement of domestic houses.

View full abstract

 Various policies have been undertaken in Japan for the establishment of a sustainable society. A vast amount of infrastructure in Japan was constructed during the rapid economic growth era, and due to its life span, most of this infrastructure would have to be repaired or demolished in the near future. It is urgently needed to determine the spatial distribution and accumulation of this material stock. This study examined the spatial distribution and transition of material stock in each prefecture using statistical and GIS data. The results show that material stock in 1965 (approx 7.2 billion tons) increased by about three times in 2010 (approx 20.6 billion tons). When comparing structure-types, buildings and roads compose the largest percentage of material stock, while in a material-types comparison, concrete and aggregate are the largest percentage.

View full abstract

 We expanded a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model, which has been developed mainly for the assessment of energy system and climate mitigation, to detailed representation of agriculture and land use. This improvement enables the CGE model to deal with the physically consistent linkages among energy, agriculture and land use. We confirmed that the agriculture and land use matters are properly treated in the model. A sensitivity analysis revealed that the income elasticity is one of the key parameters which determine how the demand and supply react to shocks of population, income and land productivity.

View full abstract

 Tax for climate change mitigation was introduced in October, 2012. CO₂ reduction effects are expected by introduced this tax, however influences for economic activities are afraid. Because introduction of a tax brings about the excess burden (Deadweight loss) of a tax. So we are necessary to argue adoptability of environmental tax by discerned the effects of CO₂ reduction and economic impacts by generating deadweight loss. In this paper, we measure the CO₂ reduction effects and economic impacts by intoroduced the tax for climate change mitigation with CGE approach, which is forcusing the transport firm, and private transport section.

View full abstract

 In this study, 15 domains which were subdivided from society, economy, and environment of sustainable development were put forward, and indicators of each domain were derived by applying three norms for sustainability: care for others, preparation for various risks, and vitality of stakeholders.
 A WEB monitor survey using these indicators was conducted, the number of indicators for each domains were reduced to three on the basis of the degree of inner consistency, and 45 indicators were extracted in total.
 As a result of the analysis using the created indicators, the followings were found.(1)The variable values about “the regional sustainability” tended to be high in the big cities, and the variable values about regional sustainability tended to be low in the small city or towns and villages. (2) “Residents' happiness" depended on "the degree of relationship between residents and the area" as well as "regional sustainability”. (3) The structure of "residents' happiness" changed with the size of population in the area, or residents' basic attributes.

View full abstract

 In this study, the authors developed a text mining technique for the minutes of public work planning processes to identify the sub-themes disucussed and persons referred to respective themes and to visualize analytical results. As the result of applying the developed technique to the minutes of the Yodo River Watershed Committee, sub-themes discussed in connection with "dam construction" such as “flow rate”, “water level of Lake Biwa”, “dams in Shiga Prefecture”, and so forth as well as members who mentioned respective themes in the committee were identified successfully. It was also indicated that drawing network graphs would be a useful tool to visualize the relationship between the members through the sub-themes.

View full abstract

 Regional population distribution bears a causal relationship to the affects on CO₂ emission in transportation sector. In this study, we demonstrate analysis on per-capita automobile CO₂ emission of centralized and decentralized population distribution scenarios. First, we develop a regression formula which estimates per-capita automobile CO₂ emission at each mesh population rank, by using the population censuses of 1980 to 2005 aggregated under a mesh system, as well as the per-capita automobile CO₂ emission of 1980 to 2005 in each Japanese municipality. Next, we analyze to estimate per-capita automobile CO₂ emission of 2030 and 2050, by applying the population in each mesh at the centralized or decentralized scenario in 2030 and 2050 to the formula. As a result, we display an evaluation of per-capita automobile CO₂ emission at the centralized and the decentralized scenarios. The estimated change rate of percapita automobile CO₂ emission at centralized senarios in 2030 is -4%, at decentralized senarios in 2030 is +1%, at centralized senarios in 2050 is -3%, and at decentralized senarios in 2050 is +6%.

View full abstract

 This paper discusses the travel choice consciousness structure of streetcar users with social capital (SC) structure for regions. The streetcar is known as a useful tool for the improvement of city centers and climate change countermeasures in local governments. On the other hand, local governments have faced aging and financial problems. Therefore local governments should know streetcar choice factors of current streetcar users to keep them. Hakodate city with three different SC structures, Japan was chosen as case studies. A questionnaire survey was conducted to streetcar users, and 560 valid samples were obtained. The logit model and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the data. The results showed that a place attachment created SC. Then an association and exchange, and trust factors of SC directly influenced a streetcar use in bonding type areas. A social participation factor of SC directly influenced a streetcar use in bridging type areas. A place attachment and SC had major impact a streetcar use than cost-benefit and feasibility factors.

View full abstract

 Many psychological factors for environmental behaviors (EBs) have been reported, while those specific to each EB are little known. Modeling research aims to make a simple and general model to extract the core psychological structure common to many of the EBs. The simplicity, however, becomes big disadvantage for making actual countermeasures for specific behaviors. Psychological factors should be different for different behaviors. Therefore, for taking an actual step to promote the EBs, it is necessary to make more elaborate and suitable model for each EB. We conducted structural equation modeling exploratively with various variables. The data were gained through the on-line questionnaire survey conducted in Tokyo, Japan. 13 EBs, like ‘Turning off the light frequently’ were picked up (n=350 for each).
 The constructed model consisted of two parts. The factors on general EBs were merged and appeared as a first step, and as a second step, the each factor on the target EB appeared independently with stronger effect on the intention and the behavior. The number of factors involved in the model ranged from 10 to 16 depending on the EBs. The influential factors were ‘attitudes’ (0.61-0.98 as total effect) for the intensions and ‘Habits’ (0.73-0.93 as total effect) for the behaviors.

View full abstract

 An online questionnaire to the residents in the Tokyo metropolitan area was carried out in order to assess the residents' acceptability of introducing channels by using treated wastewater for improving the amenity performance in urban area and their preferences of the bank shapes. The 95.8% of residents approve the scenario, it indicates that residents highly value the introduction of channels and treated wastewater has the potential for this use. The order of residents' preference of the bank shape was observed as followed: (1) good vegetation and good accessibility (35.1%), (2) no vegetation and good accessibility (28.5%), (3) good vegetation and no accessibility] (21.5%), (4) no vegetation and no accessibility] (10.8%). This order shows no significant correlation with regional environmental conditions but with the positivity of waterfront usages and valuations or concerns of environmental issues.

View full abstract

 We investigated the people's choices of drinking and cooking water and the selection criteria of water using an on-line questionnaire. The survey was conducted for six scenes: home, office, outside at eating, and outside without eating. The target water types of drinking water were water itself, tea (hot/cold), coffee and water for making an alcoholic drink. Both what respondents want to choose and what they actually choose were asked. The choice of drinking water varied by scenes and type of drinking water. The main reasons at home at meal were taste and safety. It was found by the cluster analysis that most people drink what they want to drink though some people drink tap water nevertheless they don't want to drink it. Information they want to put importance were also asked. Many people put importance on simple information like approval by trusted third party, index and standards.

View full abstract

 A numerical simulation model was proposed to describe the material cycling and the river ecosystem in river channel network, in which river continuum concept and flood pulse concept were modeled and the stream order and the link magnitude were employed to characterize the river channel network structures. The model was applied to the Ibogawa-river basin in Hyogo, Japan. The results of the numerical simulation show that the present simulation model can describe the longitudinal distribution of the production/respiration ratio and the decomposition of coarse particulate organic matter along stream.

View full abstract

 This paper examines the method of managing the concentration of residual chlorine for stabilized and safe supply of high quality drinking water. In order to understand the complicated behavior of residual chorine concentration within water supply and distribution systems, simulations using water pipelines information's GIS (Geographic Information System) were conducted to study the behavior and examined for the purpose of reducing residual chlorine through adequate management of residual chlorine concentration.
 The east- south water supply main line and its 4 water distribution areas (Nishi-Mizue, Kasai, Koto and Toyozumi) located in eastern Tokyo were used as the model of this study. Residual chlorine concentration simulations were conducted and analyzed with focus on the distance between the water purification plant and the end of the water distribution pipeline network. We compared residual chlorine between the survey date from water distribution areas and the estimated value applied our simulation model. The reduction of residual chlorine in the purification plant was then quantitatively evaluated.
 A further scenario involving the installation of the chlorine-injection devices at each water station in the 4 distribution areas was also analyzed. The results revealed the effect of chlorine dosage reduction through adding chlorine, as well as the effect of equalizing the concentration of residual chlorine within the water supply areas.

View full abstract

 Energy saving is one of the issues to be taken up in providing water services. An investigation of electric power usage in water service shows that more than 60% of that use is in the water distribution process. An important research theme for reducing electric power usage is therefore optimization of water operation, that is, devising plans that achieve the most rational distribution of water from filtration plants and through service reservoirs.
 This paper 1) proposes a model optimized to the purpose of reducing electric power usage in a water distribution system, and 2) describes a simulation of a large and complex water distribution system in the Bureau of Waterworks, Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The model was developed to be as faithful as possible to the realities of the target system, which consists of 11 filtration plants, 29 water supply plants, and 56 distribution areas, including by setting constraints such as using observed values for fluctuations in stored water amounts in service reservoirs. Based on the simulations using the proposed MILP model, the study shows the extent of electric power usage reduction to be expected from the optimization.

View full abstract

 In this study, we have carried out experiments using two small container houses. The roof of the house was wiped with a double-layer structure for water contain concrete boad. And, we analyzed and measured the effect of reducing the power consumption of air conditioning and roof surface temperature. From the results, we verified the effectiveness of the boad as improved indoor hot environments. Measurements from September to October 2012, we have confirmed that the effect of reducing the power consumption of the air conditioning and the effect of reducing the surface temperature of the roof is clear. Setting the water contain boad covered with double-layered on roof surface, we were able to reduce the surface temperature during the day of sunny days in summer(at 9-19h), 16.7°C on average, 28.1°C atmost. When laid in a single-layer, the reduction of surface temperature was 10.3°C, 18.7°C respectively. The room temperature was reduced 1.9°C on average, 3.1°C at most during the day time. When laid in a single-layer, the reduction of surface temperature was 1.2°C, 2.1°C respectively. Comparing the energy consumption of air conditioning, 77.0% reduction in power consumption by double-layer and 28.7% by single-layer.

View full abstract

 Despite the fact that utilization of biomass is important from the viewpoints of global warming issue and energy security, there are technical, economic, and social issues concerning the collection, transportation, and energy recovery of unutilized thinned trees. This study focused on human resource transfer from construction industry to forestry in terms of job development, and a methodology to investigate a possibility of human resource transfer was proposed. Environmental and economic evaluation of additional energy utilization of unutilized thinned trees due to the supposed human resource transfer was also conducted through a case study. To investigate the possibility of the human resource transfer, the business skills of workers from the forestry and construction industries were extracted using questionnaire and literature surveys. Further, the similarity of their business skills was investigated. If the similarity of their skills was high, human resource transfer was assumed to be possible. As a result of the case study, it was concluded that if a human resource transfer were to occur, 80% of unutilized thinned trees could possibly be harvested for generating energy. This effect corresponds to a GHG reduction of 2.4 million tons.

View full abstract

 Regarding consumer durables such as household appliances, the amount of reduction of power consumption and environmental loads over the entire life cycles varies depending on actual conditions of use of respective consumers. However, neither cost nor environmental information reflecting those conditions are shown in practice. This study evaluates the life cycle cost and environmental loads of light bulbs including incandescent, fluorescent and LED bulbs. Then, the relationships among types of light bulbs, conditions of use, cost and environmental loads are analyzed and visualized. Based on a web-based questionnaire survey on consumers, where each respondent was asked to choose the most desirable type of light bulbs depending on assumed condition of use, the consumers' levels of understanding are investigated according to the way of provision of cost and environmental information. The result shows that the effect of providing environmental information is relatively small, and that a visual representation containing a large amount of information rather tends to inhibit consumers' economically reasonable choices. It is suggested that cost information customized according to conditions of use should contribute to reasonable choice of consumer durables.

View full abstract

 Various kinds of activity in the river will be effective to have a connection between a river and neighborhood residents. Especially, it is very important that the river environment studies enable the people to learn nature and promotes the inter-generation exchange. In this study, the transition of river environmental management by residents and the relationship among activity contents are clarified. The factor analysis and potential assessment on the initiation of the river environment studies are performed in the first class rivers of Chugoku District. The results indicate that the elementary school and the cooperation in river basin greatly influence the initiation and continuation of the learning activities for the river. The potential map is useful for river administrator to show the river section that activity is easy to start.

View full abstract

 Agricultural ecosystems can provide high quality biomass production as an ecosystem service. On the other hand, intrusive agriculture and searching for higher profitability, has induced enormous Green House Gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural ecosystems. In this way, trade-off between mitigating climate change and benefiting from biomass production ecosystem service has occurred. This trade-off is especially evident in greenhouse horticulture because of the requirement of high quality biomass production. Against this background the goal of this study is to develop a co-benefit approach between reducing GHG emissions and sustaining biomass production in greenhouse horticulture as a flagship model of solving this trade-off structure. Biomass production and GHGs emission from soil were analyzed using DNDC (DeNitrification DeComposition) model. Fuel consumption for heating was analyzed using a tool for estimating greenhouse heating fuel consumption. GHGs emission reduction by means of greenhouse temperature management and fertilizer use reduction was analyzed. As a result, the case study plant was found to be using excess fertilizer. Reducing fertilizer use by 45 % was found to have limited effect on the biomass production. Environmental efficiency defined as the ratio of biomass production and GHGs emission was found to be at its highest when fertilizer use was reduced by 47% and the greenhouse temperature was lowered by 3 at the case study production plant.

View full abstract

 This paper estimates energy consumption in manufacturing establishments in Nepal and evaluates the consumption structure, based on two official statistics, then analyzes factors affecting change of energy consumption, based on different editions of one of the two. Followings are results, (1)coal is the largest contributor in energy sources, (2)large quantity of coal and/or biomass is mainly consumed in ceramic industry, food industry, and metal products industry, (3)these industries and textile industry are 4 major energy-consuming industries, (4)about 60% of increasing energy consumption is due to production increase, (5)energy using efficiency is increasing in most of industries but is largely decreasing in some industries, especially in major energy-consuming industries. At present, though two official statistics utilized in this paper are very useful and only information sources, which provide energy information in manufacturing establishments in Nepal, enhancement of research precision is desirable for future analysis.

View full abstract

 Using four scenarios of SRES, Mid and long-term GHG emissions, up to 2050, are estimated for China and India aiming to study scrap availability and its potential on GHG emission reduction. The results of cumurative ratio of scrap supply, taking into account of upper limit of scrap use by end-use category, to apparent consumption were 34-59% for China, 28-41% for India from 2010 to 2050. Two cases of scrap use, a case with using scrap in EAF as much as possible within its use limitation by end-use category and another case with EAF/BOF rate estimated from experiences of other countries were compared. In terms of cumulative CO2 emissions of steel production from 2010 to 2050, CO2 reduction potential will be 9% to 13% in China and 26% to 32% in India. CO2 emissions of 2050 increased from 2.3 to 4.8 times and from 1.7 to 3.8 times for China and India respectively compared to 2010 level.
 Given results which suggest limited GHG reduction potentials of scrap use, other measures, especially ones bring better energy efficiency of BOF steel making will be of high importance.

View full abstract

 Under the influence of environmental problems and the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, self-sufficiency of electric power achieved through decentralization of generation sources using smart grids has become increasingly important. However, while techniques are developing, the degree of self-sufficiency of electric power expected for each city using such technology has not been grasped fully. Therefore, assuming that smart grids are introduced to residential use, this study was undertaken to calculate the rate of self-sufficiency in municipalities considering the traffic behavior of inhabitants. Moreover, we analyzed the relation to city characteristics and the effects of implementing measures. Results show the following: 1) the self-sufficiency rate has about quadruple the difference at the maximum among municipalities; 2) cities with higher self-sufficiency rates have characteristics such as bedroom towns in the suburbs; 3) achievement of increased rates of self-sufficiency differs greatly among measures and municipalities.

View full abstract

 It is a siginificant issue on creating a low carbon society to establish industrial and urban symbiotic network among entities in addition to individual facilities' efficiency improvement. This paper proposed an evaluation system to analyze the actual synergy network in a industrial city and to estimate low carbon effect on future scenario that heat from power generations would be utilized by industries around those. The result of a case study in Kawasaki coastal area showed GHG reduction potential was estimated as 132Mt-CO₂ /year in total. One of the future challenges is to create a process model of steel/iron and oil refinery industries as heat emitters and chemical industries and urban consumption activities as heat users.

View full abstract

 This paper built the simple simulation model of electricity demand and solar energy supply demonstrates monetary benefit derived from peak shaving and load leveling in operation of battery charging/discharging with photovoltaics in city blocks and communities.
 As a result, we were able to get the conclusion of the following four points mainly. 1) The increment of the peak value 30 minutes for the average day and was limited to changes in gradual of about 10%, but it only obtained to reduce the 1.2% if you use an integrated manner across the district widely BT, case or, to operate together in a group applications BT, a significant reduction was obtained from BT users to combine together in a block unit. 2) Introduction to the total amount of PV-BT is the largest district in about 0.25 [kW/100m²] per unit area, the annual net benefits when changing the amount of introduction PV-BT is further reduced. 3)clarifing the effect of reducing peak load of distinction city that degree of mixing applications, possible to reduce peak by mixing the system residence, in order to away system and commercial system office time occurrence peak the results showed a quantitative reduction peak is low. 4) In block the system only commercial system and office are mixed, when shifted toward the power demand increases only the standard deviation, the effect of reducing peak load by BT is relatively high.

View full abstract

 1,4-Dioxane migrates in groundwater with low sorption, low degradation, and low volatilization according to its physicochemical properties. 1,4-Dioxane migration therefore strongly depends on groundwater flow. Hydraulic conductivities, the most uncertain parameters and critical to groundwater flow, should be precisely determined. In a conventional approach, groundwater flow is estimated by calibration to optimize hydraulic conductivities, and then the calibrated groundwater flow is used for predicting 1,4-dioxane distribution considering other parameters such as source location and concentration. Although other parameters are properly set, 1,4-dioxane distribution cannot be always precisely predicted because the calibrated groundwater flow model does not perfectly present the real groundwater flow. Thus, the calibrated groundwater flow should be reevaluated to define the most suitable hydraulic conductivities considering 1,4-dioxane distribution.
 This study proposes a new approach with verification process of groundwater flow estimation for precisely predicting 1,4-dioxane distribution in groundwater. In this approach, several acceptable sets of hydraulic conductivities in term of groundwater heads are estimated by calibration and each groundwater flow is verified to match between calculated and observed 1,4-dioxane concentrations. The effectiveness of our new approach comparing to the conventional one was proved by a case study at an illegal dumping site in Japan where three aquifers have been contaminated by 1,4-dioxane for about 15 years. Eight acceptable sets of hydraulic conductivities of the three aquifers were determined by calibration using observed groundwater heads, and then verified to minimize the errors in 1,4-dioxane concentration. As a result, 1,4-dioxane distribution was predicted by our approach more precisely than the conventional approach.

View full abstract

 Red pine (Pinus densiflora) has traditionally been used by the Japanese for fuel. However, after the woodland was abandoned, and the numbers of red pine began to decrease because of this lack of management and invasion by the pine wood nematode.
 We aimed to determine the regeneration ability of the red pine using natural seedlings from trees in a number of reserves.
 We also determined its usability by researching the lumber volume and underdstory vegetation.
 The lumber volume among 16- year-old red pines was approximately 12 m/ha.
 A total of 46 species were found in the understory vegetation, and some of these prefer bright light. Growth of the red pine seedlingd two years after the felling of all trees in the area was comparable with taht 16 years after felling.

View full abstract

 Field observation was performed on settlement and enlargement of plant community of Robinia pseudoacacia L. and Salix subfragilis on and around a sand bar in Watarase River. The observation site was divided into three areas form view point of river topography. The age and position of all individuals were mapped on the aerial photograph, and the enlargement process of Robinia pseudoacacia L. and its competition process with Salix subfragilis were analyzed. Moreover, allometric relationships of tree height and crown width against the tree age of both species were examined and compared. As a result, it was clarified that the transition process of the plant community is different in the three topographic areas. Particularly, in the area on the sand bar where the two species are in competition, the community of Salix subfragilis has a tendency to reduce its area, meanwhile, the community of Robinia pseudoacacia L. has expanded to the boundary between the main channel and floodplain, and will be enlarged hereafter.

View full abstract

 Examining riffles of the Tama River, benthic algal biomass' relation to movement of stones on a streambed of Nagata in the Tama River was investigated experimentally. Effects of the stone size on algal development were particularly examined. Several new stones from five diameter classes were marked with colored paint and submerged in a limited area. For 43 days, we counted the stones that had moved into and out of the original area in reference to the stone size differences. The algal biomass on all stones in the original area was measured on the final day of this experiment. The fraction of stones moved by current increased concomitantly with the increased flow discharge. Small stones were moved more easily than large stones. The algal biomass on them was less because most small stones had a short stable duration. The duration of stability of streambed substrata, which is strongly correlated with the stones' size, is an important determinant of algal development. Furthermore, positive correlation between the stones' size and benthic algal biomass was also indicated about stones remaining for 43 days. In microhabitat, small stones had the greater influence of the disturbance by the water current and the moving stones from upper streams.

View full abstract

 We evaluated the effect on energy consumptions and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by introducing update measures in collaboration with a sewage treatment plant and a waste incineration plant serving 300,000 people. We set three cases; 1: no collaboration system; 2; integrated thickened sludge and food waste digestion system; 3: case 2 + integrated waste and dried sludge incineration system. Estimation was carried out considering effects on the incineration process of an increase in dewatered sludge, and effects on the energy balance of waste incineration facilities of changes in trash composition and heat consumption. Relative to case 1, The estimated annual amounts of GHG emissions were reduced by 12.1 % under case 2, and by 39.9 % under case 3. The increased amounts of energy consumption in January relative to that in August for case 1, 2, and 3 were 54.8 GJ/day, 64.8 GJ/day and 25.9 GJ/day respectively. In conclusion, the performance of case 3 was highest.

View full abstract

 The spread of solar panel is accelerating after feed-in-tariff policy for renewable energy introduced in July 2012. The lifetime of photovoltaic (PV) panels generally is guessed 20 years. In the near future, big amount of PV panels will be expected to discard because of these rapid diffusion, so it is necessary to investigate and prepare treatment and recycling system for end-of-life PV panels from now.
 In this paper, at first, the amount of annual introduction of PV systems which includes new introduction and replacement was estimated in Japan. Secondly, the future amount of discarded solar panel was estimated concerning discarded factors. We adapted 3 factors as discarded factors that include loss in manufacturing process of solar panels, loss at installation and end of life of solar panel. The amount of discarded solar panel by region was obtained by dividing according to the number of houses. Thirdly, we estimated the optimal distribution of stock yard (SY) according to total cost of transportation from place of generation to treatment plant in Kyushu area. SY is indicated the place for interim storage. Total cost is composed from transportation cost and management cost for SY. Optimal place of SY was obtained by using barycentric method in consideration of the transportation cost minimization. In addition, sensitivity analysis was conducted to understand the influence of each parameter to optimal place of SY.

View full abstract

 This study developed scenarios of regional circulation systems considering existing biogas plants for kitchen waste and new RDF plants for papers, plastics, textiles and woods (wastes for fuel) in Soya region, Hokkaido, which includes 5 municipalities such as Wakkanai city, Rishiri and Rebun islands, etc. The scenarios were compared in costs, recycling rate and the amount of landfilled waste with the current situation. As a result, a regional recirculation scenario, where the kitchen waste in Rishiri and Rebun islands is transported by container and ferry to the existing biogas plant in Wakkanai city, and the wastes for fuels in whole Soya region are transported by container to a new centralized RDF plant in Wakkanai city and the produced RDF is used as a heat source at the existing paper factory in Asahikawa city, was evaluated in terms of costs, recycling rate, the amount of landfilled waste and feasibility in Soya region.

View full abstract

 The planning and mamagement of final disposal sites play an important role in proper treatment/disposalofwaste. Inrecent decades, several functions, e.g., the stockyard of potential resources, the creation of urban ecological habitats, the temporal stock for disaster waste, are particularly highlighted with regard to the life-cycle values of final disposal sites. In this sense, the development of final disposal sites is required for modern society. Nonetheless, the construction plans are often objected by residents, i.e., the NIMBY symdrom, and the remaining capacity is decresing to a great extent in most regions. In order to tackle this problem, it is important to make integrated evaluations on the functions of final disposal sites for key stakeholders. Thereby, this study made an attempt to propose an integrated evaluation approach to estimate environmental economic values of final disposal sites, with a particular emphasis on the reclamination of final disposal sites. Besides, the established approach was applied to a case study in Moerenuma Park in Sapporo city. For the further improvement of the environmental value of reclamination of case study area, concrete policy proposals could be made through the corporation among the key stakeholders, and thus the NIMBY symdrom could be eliminated.

View full abstract

 Biomass energy utilization for reducing CO₂ emission from fossil fuels has increasingly become important for the establishment of a sustainable society. Shimokawa, a town in Hokkaido, north Japan, has succeeded in reducing CO₂ emissions and saving on fuel costs through an initiative to utilize its abundant forest biomass. Sustainable biomass utilization can be achieved as long as the harvest does not exceed reproduction rate. In order to clarify the potential for a self-sufficient renewable energy system, this study estimated the utilizable amount of forest biomass in Shimokawa, calculated the utilizable energy amount obtained from forest biomass, and compared it with Shimokawa's heating energy demand. As a result, it was found that the theoretically utilizable amount of energy, calculated based on the annual growth of forest biomass, was able to cover 80-131% of heating energy demands.

View full abstract

 Centralized biogas plants for proper treatment and effective utilization of cow liquid manure have contributions to improvement of environmental problem such as odor or lack of capacity in reservoirs and also have secondary effects on saving farmer's labor for transportation and application of manure, and on energy recovery. However, such biogas plants are not still introduced so much because of economic liability for dairy farmers. This study revealed actual situations of improper management of cow liquid manure by questionnaire survey for daily farmers in three regions, Hokkaido, where dairy farming is active. Conjoint analysis revealed that cow farmers consider “improvement of lack of capacity in reservoirs”, “improvement of odor” and “improvement of excessive application of manure” as advantage. The evalution results were also reflected by differences in regional conditions, such as change in the number of cows and existence of crop or vegetable farmers. New strategies for spreading biogas plants are required considering regionally-different dairy farmer's needs for dairy farmers.

View full abstract

 The water includes turbidity during and after the flood. Almost fish uses eyes and lateral line during swimming, so that the turbidity may affect on the swimming behavior of fish. Fish trajectories in openchannel flows with turbidity are not known. In this study, the trajectories of ayu, Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis, in static water with turbidity were recorded with a digital video camera and trajectories of an each time were analyzed. It was found that the swimming velocity decreased with an increase of the turbidity, because visibility decreased with an increase of turbidity. The turning angle during swimming is almost constant irrespective of the turbidity.

View full abstract

 Water pipeline is the most important infrastructure in our daily life. However, pipeline deterioration is now causing problems for water supply service in Korea. Aged water pipelines need to be efficiently replaced to prevent problems. The present study aims to introduce efficient, gradual pipeline replacement plans, particularly analyzing risks through predicting the number of pipeline damages, the restoration time and water shortage volume. The results were put together and the overall risk ranking was estimated using predicted risk index (PRI). As a result, the highest PRI was given the highest priority for replacement. From these analyses, pipelines were assessed and given a risk ranking. In order to confirm replacement effects utilizing the PRI order, the Monte Carlo simulation was applied to three case studies with changed replacement order. Due to the random occurrence of pipeline accidents in terms of space and time, the Monte Carlo simulation can yield approximate solutions. The results of the Monte Carlo simulations in each case allowed us to confirm the effects of replacement in order of PRI, and can contribute to the decision-making concerning pipeline replacement plans for distribution networks.

View full abstract

 Much of Japan's social infrastructure was built during the period of high economic growth in the mid-1950s to the early 1960s. This infrastructure continues to deteriorate with age, raising the question of how to respond to this problem in coming years. Water pipeline systems are a type of infrastructure vital to both industry and people in their everyday lives. The question of how to go about renewing and maintaining this infrastructure as the population declines involves many important issues. Water supply lines are particularly key facilities of water transmission systems, sending water from purification plants to distribution areas. The role of a water distribution network in securing water supply functions following a disaster is extremely important.
 When considering the future of such a water pipeline infrastructure, not only economic cost but reducing the environmental impact must also enter into management thinking. This study therefore looks at the water distribution network from the two aspects of economic and environmental viability. The objective of the study is to determine from the standpoint of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) both the extent of costs required for building and operating pipeline and pump facilities and also the amount of CO₂ emissions that will result. Section 2 discusses the method of calculating the life-cycle cost (LCC) of a water distribution network and life-cycle CO₂ emissions (LCCO₂), and describes the service area that is the object of this research. Section 3 analyzes the impact on LCC and LCCO₂ from differences in population density. Section 4 discusses the optimal approach to pipeline diameter downsizing assuming future population declines.

View full abstract

 This study focuses on analyzing the feasibility of the global greenhouse gas emissions halving target from 1990 levels by 2050 and socio-economic impacts caused by the mitigation measures quantitatively. A computable general equilibrium model, AIM/CGE[basic] model, linked with a bottom-up module is applied to investigate the impacts in Asian 10 regions (China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam). Not only the characteristics and situation of each region but also uncertainty of future development is considered by assuming two contrasting future scenarios for each region.
 The results show that it is feasible to achieve the global halving target in 8 regions (all regions except Japan andwith only Korea) with only domestic emissions reduction. For Japan and Korea, international cooperation towards emissions reduction, for example, international emissions trading, is required to achieve their targets. The impacts from countermeasures vary among regions; for some regions such as Japan and Korea, the achievement is challenging while for Philippine, only mitigation actions are required after around 2040. Even under the emissions constraints, GDP increases in all regions; however, emissions reduction brings impacts on economy, and GDP loss is caused especially in regions with high non-energy oriented GHG emissions with maximum 20% GDP loss.
 Although the study shows that the target is achievable with only domestic emissions reductions in all regions except Japan and Korea, the aggressive introduction of low carbon technologies is required to achieve the targets, and societies need to overcome such drastic change. In addition, international cooperation toward emissions reduction is necessary especially for countries like Japan and Korea to achieve the global halving target; therefore, development of cooperative framework is urgently requested.

View full abstract

 In this research, the energy and material flows in the glasshouse horticulture of flowers and ornamental plants were identified based on the field and interview survey at a specific site located in Arida district of Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. In addition, a quantitative analysis was conducted to estimate the GHG emissions derived from each energy and material consumed in cultivation process, applying Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Furthermore, we developed seven alternative options of heating equipment used in glasshouse horticulture and then evaluated GHG emissions reduction potential through introducing low-carbon equipments in substitution for conventional oil boiler and utilizing woody and waste biomass for fuel based on the result of LCA. From the analysis, we reached the following conclusions: (i) The GHG emissions from glasshouse horticulture account for 98% of the entire emissions and almost all of them is induced by heavy oil combustion in conventional boilers for heat generation. (ii) The installation of wood chip boilers into glasshouse horticulture plant and promotion of woody biomass utilization can reduce GHG emissions by 64%, compared with conventional oil combustion. (iii) As an electric heat pump produces heat greater than the electricity consumed, 59% of GHG emissions can be reduced through replacing conventional oil boiler by it. (iv) The monetary value of carbon credits gained by installing wood chip boilers into glasshouse horticulture plant is estimated at about 36 thousand yen per year if the domestic market price of credits is 1.5 thousand yen per ton CO₂.

View full abstract

 This paper focuses on carbon footprints of steel production in China. Following the enforcement of the Kyoto Protocol in 2005, China has promoted energy efficient technological renovation in existing industrial zones as well as by the construction of new environmentally-friendly industrial zones. On the contrary, geographical fragmentation of production in China and East Asia has deepened the interdependency on regional transactions of goods and services that are part of spreading global value chains or vertical specialization. Based on the above background, we attempt to evaluate the multi-regional carbon footprint of steel-related low-carbon technological renovation by using input-output analysis. First, we created a dataset for input coefficient changes in an I-O table, corresponding to the low-carbon technologies that are implemented in the “global sectorial approach” to the steel industry. Second, we set up scenarios to implement a set of low-carbon technologies in the steel sector. Finally, we evaluated backward and forward linkage effects of low-carbon technology transfers in terms of their carbon footprints. As a result of the analysis, it was revealed that: 1) implementation of low-carbon technologies would provide a significant contribution to carbon footprint reduction in steel production; 2) the structures of carbon footprint reduction are different among regions due to variations of multi-regional steel production and consumption linkages; 3) the interdependencies among the different carbon footprints in each region can be used as basic information regarding regional collaboration to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the spreading global value chain.

View full abstract

 Systematic investigations were performed in order to establish a proper treatment and recycling system for CCA-treated wood waste. At first, a fact-finding survey on separation of CCA-treated wood waste was conducted by questionnaire for demolishers, sampling and analysis for samples of recycled material, and literature survey. The result estimated that about 71% of CCA-treated wood waste was not separated, and that the detected CCA components in the samples were over the level which might cause hazardous effects. In addition, we also pointed out the problems on incineration or landfilling of CCA-treated wood waste which are recognized proper treatments at the present time, and suggested the necessity for thorough separation and recycling system of CCA-treated wood waste. So, assuming fully separation of CCA-treated wood waste, extracting conditions using dilute sulfuric acid were investigated for removal of CCA-components from CCA-treated wood waste. As the result, about 90% of CCA-components were removed from CCA-treated wood chips with 0.5NH₂SO₄ under 50°C for 8hours, suggesting possibility of reasonable recycling of wood material and metal components.

View full abstract

 Under the pressure of exacerbating energy supply condition, effective use of regional original energy source, such as excess energy or renewable energy, has become an important issue. In this study, in order to identify the best available regional energy policy in long-term, we establish a quantitative evaluation approach to address the impact of designed energy policy considering energy consumer's location pattern.
 We conducted an effective energy system planning of using exhaust heat from local thermal power plants in the case of Shinchi-machi, where is one of the affected areas by the east Japan great earthquake. Furthermore, we evaluated the possibility of energy collective industry location, such as plant factory, to the tsunami flood area where has had no suitable land use pattern yet. Finally we discussed the directivity of land use and industrial invitation policy based on a comparison with present urban structure.

View full abstract

 : Even though quantitative assessment of ecosystem servi CES is recently given importance, only few researches assess Cultural Ecosystem Service ( CES ). In this study, we focus on nature park information in Japan as nature parks are assumed to be quintessential CES providers. Furthermore, we analyzed how composing elements of CES in a nature park, such as climate, geography, vegetation and cultural assets affect the usage intensity and the share of visitors coming from outside the park limits. First, we computed a regression analysis on how these composing elements affected the usage intensity and the share of visitors coming from outside the park limits. Second, we categorized the nature parks according to their composing elements characteristics, and computed a regression analysis for each category.

View full abstract