The feasibility of an air cleaning device that uses windshield washer fluid to remove some volatile organic pollutants from the car indoor air was evaluated by a simulation model developed in this study. The simulation results showed that formaldehyde, a hydrophilic volatile organic pollutant, was shown to be effectively removed. Even after one month of continuous use of the device, high removal efficiency was maintained. The intake rates of 55 volatile organic pollutants in a car cabin for a month were estimated. In the calculation, two scenarios, Typical and Occupational uses, were assumed. Under the Typical use scenario, a person was supposed to ride on a car twice a day for 30 min each every day for a month (30 days). On the other hand, under the Occupational use scenario, a person was supposed to ride on a car 8 h per one-time and 21 times per a month. The simulation results showed that the estimated intake rates of hydrophilic volatile organic pollutants such as formaldehyde could be drastically reduced. Under the Occupational use scenario, the estimated intake rate of formaldehyde was reduced by 80％.

With the rapid increase of production of automotive in China, the amounts of End-of-Life Vehicles (ELVs) also rise sharply. As an important substitute for natural resource, the renewable resources of ELVs receive extensive attention. In order to design the recycling plan for ELVs and appropriate disposal of the renewable resources, it is necessary to predict the recoverable potential of the renewable resource of ELVs in China. This paper proposed a practical model for predicting the recoverable potential of the renewable resource of ELVs, which enabled to consider various changes of vehicle types and materials. Furthermore, the number of ELVs was forecasted according to the number of motor vehicles in use and domestic demand, by using Weibull distribution function. The predicted results show that China’s vehicles will reach 21.8 million, leading to the potential of 74.1 million t by 2020, showing a great potential for recycling.

To evaluate the influence of various environmental factors on forest dynamics, we analyzed the relationship between dynamics parameters and environmental factors based on 1991–2013 monitoring data. Mortality was the largest in 1991–1993, when a severe typhoon occurred, for all species except Eurya japonica. In generalized linear model (GLM) of mortality including 1991–1993, 8 out of 14 species showed positive coefficient on strong wind influence. However, 5 species did in excluding the 1991–1993. During 1993–2013, more than 50％ of damaged stems caused by the typhoon died. This was significantly larger than 16％ for non-damaged stems. While, relative growth rate (RGR) for 11 out of 16 species increased after the typhoon. In GLM of RGR, 14 species showed negative coefficient on density of the canopy trees, and 8 species did on the air pollution. Mean RGR of stems was not significantly different among groups with or without damages caused by typhoon and/or forest pests. We concluded that strong winds would give the largest influence on population dynamics, at present. For some species, air pollution might influence on growth. Further monitoring is important to evaluate the changes of influence of various environmental factors on population dynamics of forests.

In Japan, eco-friendly vehicles, such as hybrid vehicles, have been attracting attention as the government promotes them with subsidies and tax reductions. The target vehicles for promotion are selected according to their fuel economy performance, as per a nationwide uniform policy. Previous studies in Japan have observed a rebound effect when improved fuel economy increases the vehicle miles traveled; whereas no study has analyzed the differences in this rebound effect among domestic regions. If our study finds a gap in the rebound effect among regions, then the uniform promotion will be rendered cost-inefficient. Therefore, based on a survey of 790 households, this paper examines whether the rebound effect in urban regions is the same as in rural regions. Our empirical results show that: 1) there is no rebound effect in urban regions and, 2) the rebound effect is approximately 38 percent in rural regions. These findings suggest that the cost-effectiveness of the promotion in rural regions is less than that in urban regions. Thus, the government needs to set different subsidies for rural and urban regions, and promote the use of a public transport system in rural regions.

Conducting assessments using city resilience indicators based on public statistical information helps us to understand the actual conditions and resilience of our cities and communities, thereby enhancing our ability to resist, adapt to, and recover from devastating disasters. The paper introduces the methodology and procedure of developing city resilience indicators and a case of conducting resilience assessment using the indicators targeting major cities in Japan. Initially, 18 indicators were carefully selected based on selection criteria; 1) data availability, 2) data reliability, 3) representativeness, 4) local adaptability, and 5) policy relevance. Secondly, resilience of major Japanese cities including Tokyo and government-designated cities were assessed using these 18 city resilience indicators and 3 integrated indicators. These results were illustrated on a radar charts and scatter charts. Results of the study show the importance of conducting resilience assessment using several indicators together with public statistical information.

We created a public indicator as an index to measure the resilience of cities and regions against the risk of natural disasters related to climate change, as well as other risks associated with the changing social environment. The public indicator is one of the three main indicators (Baba & Tanaka). In our online survey, we measured the commitment to residential areas, crises that occurred in the regions, and the vulnerabilities of the community. We selected the risks of eight natural hazards, then recruited respondents from eight cities and prefectures that have either high likelihood of a high frequency of experiencing such disasters. Our results indicate that respondents strongly recognized the risk of disasters that frequently occur in their own residential areas as crisis events rather than other disasters. Participation in community activities and a commitment to their localities were high in rural area. The recognition of vulnerability of homes and communities was low in urban areas. These results showed that resilience index of regional community in urban areas such as Sapporo City was high in the aspect of prevention, and resilience index in rural area such as Kagoshima Prefecture was high in the aspect of cooperation and reconstruction.