To clarify the long-range transport of atmospheric Hg, the monitoring was conducted at the free-troposphere mountainous site. The monitoring campaign was conducted at six observation sites between 3,776 m to 2,230 m in Mt. Fuji. The sampling campaign period spanned August to September in 2009 divided by five times (#1, #2, #3, #4, and #5). Total gaseous mercury (TGM) and mercury associated with particulate matter (Hg^P) concentrations were measured using both active and passive sampler. TGM concentrations were observed in the range of 1.00 to 5.00 ng/m³. Characteristic vertical distribution was observed in the campaign of #3. TGM concentrations in low altitude shows in the range of 1.00 to 1.50 ng/m³ and in high altitude the concentrations were distribute between 2.00 to 5.00 ng/m³. Both C. Ratio and TGM concentration on campaign of #3 gradually decreased as altitude decreases. The causes remain uncertainty, however, this research suggests an air mass arriving at high elevation sampling points of Mt. Fuji entrained a polluted air when low-altitude air masses passed through a region with heavily polluted coastal areas in China.

Water use systems include stakeholders who have diverse preferences. Therefore, comprehensive assessment of various evaluation axes including environmental, economic and social aspects is required for planning water use systems. In addition, desirable systems are different depending on preferences when tradeoffs exist among evaluation axes. In this study, we applied Pareto improvement to multi-objective optimized solutions and obtained 71 alternatives of water uses systems. However, the number of the solutions is too large for stakeholders to choose an alternative. Hence, we proposed a two-step decision-making method. First, 71 solutions were divided into 8 groups by cluster analysis based on the values of objective functions such as costs and environmental impacts. Then, design variables of alternatives included in a selected cluster were presented. The proposed method can contribute to decision-making among stakeholders.

This study is an analysis of peak power consumption data per hour (daily maximum power consumption) in summer seasons of 2011-2015, the east Japan area. This study employed a technique that compared actual values for the same day of the same week of the same month of 2010. A regression equation was derived from a scatter-plot diagram created by plotting daily mean temperature difference along the X-axis and daily maximum power consumption difference along the Y-axis. A Y-intercept of a regression equation thus represented a peak cut rate that took into consideration impacts of temperature fluctuations. The peak cut rate at Tohoku-region was 11% in 2015. Looking at annual changes from 2011 to 2014, respective annual peak cut rates were 18%, 11%, 12%, and 12%. In the same way at Kanto-region, it was 11% in 2015. From 2011 to 2014, they were 17%, 13%, 12%, and 13%. In view of results of these calculations, the situation of peak power saving in recent years has been flat or slightly down, suggesting that the peak cut rate has leveled off. It has been a stage that new initiatives have been required to push forward sequentially toward peak power saving.

Initiatives and activities for Sustainable Development (SD) have attracted increased attention since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015, and the International Standard Organization (ISO) is currently developing a standard for sustainable procurement. However, the draft ISO standard does not contain concrete SD criteria. We have therefore reviewed the criteria used in 25 initiatives and certification programs. We found that SD criteria could be divided into three categories: criteria for environmental sustainability, socioeconomic wellbeing, and institutional implementation. The environmental criteria mainly focus on the conservation of nature and ecosystems as well as efficient use of resources and reduction of environmental loads, rather than on meeting Dalyʼs operational principles of SD. The socioeconomic criteria can be divided into criteria for meeting basic needs and for advanced needs, and the latter criteria cover stakeholder involvement and information provision. The institutional criteria focus on enhancing controllability through planning, monitoring/assessment of activities, establishment of institutions, and training and awareness raising, and include criteria with a precautionary approach and criteria for compliance. These criteria should be considered in activities for SD and, if they are not, the possibility of considering them should be examined.

This study aims to examine the difference of perceptions between local officers and the other citizens in Obama City, Fukui and the Pajaro Valley, California.

As a research method, questionnaire surveys with some common questions were conducted in the two regions during October and November 2014, and were analyzed using simple counting and text mining techniques.

As a result of analyzing the responses to the common questions, a large difference was observed in the degree of urgency perception of groundwater problems between two areas as well as in the participation frequency in groundwater resource-related activities.

In addition, the degree of urgency perception may be different between local officers and the other citizens in Obama City only. On the contrary, it is suggested that there is a consistent awareness among the local citizens, local officers, and researchers in the Pajaro Valley.

The remaining major future research tasks are (1) collecting more answers, (2) clarifying the causal relationship between participation frequency and urgency perception, (3) investigating the degree of detailed issues in the Pajaro Valley, (4) understanding the history and activities of Community Water Dialogue.