ID :
190515
Wed, 06/22/2011 - 18:29
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/190515
The shortlink copeid
Energy-saving campaign begins in western Japan
Seven prefectural governments in western Japan launched an energy-saving campaign Wednesday, with Hyogo starting daylight saving time, Kyoto halting half its elevators and copy machines and Osaka calling for air conditioner temperature settings to be increased by 1 degree Celsius.
The Union of Kansai Governments hopes the campaign will help attain its goal of cutting annual electricity use by 5 to 10 percent, at a time Kansai Electric Power Co. is calling for voluntary efforts by households and firms to reduce energy use by around 15 percent from July 1 to Sept. 22 due to an expected power shortage this summer.
Also in the union, Wakayama is set to have employees work no overtime in August, Tokushima will begin daylight saving time in July, Tottori allowed employees to don polo shirts as part of ''Cool Biz'' casual attire, and Shiga is graphically releasing data on power consumption at some buildings to raise awareness about the need for energy conservation.
During Hyogo's daylight saving time through Sept. 22, about 2,800 or 40 percent of prefectural employees are to start work 45 minutes earlier than usual, half the lights will be turned off in the offices of the governor and senior officials, and the prefectural office will turn off all lights at 6 p.m.
The measures are aimed not only at cutting the office's electricity use by 15 percent in peak hours, but also encouraging employees and residents to change the ways they work and their lifestyles, an official said.
In Wakayama, which says it was second in Japan in electricity use per capita in fiscal 2008, the planned elimination of after-hours work in August is a main feature of its range of energy-saving measures to be taken through Sept. 23, with the aim also of discouraging employees from working long hours.
''Daylight saving time won't address the problem of overtime nor lead to saving on electricity,'' Gov. Yoshinobu Nisaka was quoted by an official as saying in proposing the feature program, which requires the boss of any employee who worked overtime to report the necessity and results of the work.
The prefectural government aims to cut electricity usage by 5 percent over the three-month period, and 10 percent in August, through the discounting of admission fees for its cultural facilities, to encourage residents to go out in the daylight and reduce energy consumption at home.
The Shiga prefectural government said it has already reduced energy use by about 10 percent this month since it began releasing electricity usage data at each of its buildings.
As the country's worst nuclear crisis continues at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeastern Japan, raising concerns about the safety of nuclear power, Kansai Electric, which serves western Japan, has been unable to restart some of its reactors and called for the 15 percent power-saving effort in its service area earlier this month.
As for service areas of TEPCO and Tohoku Electric Power Co., whose power plants suffered damage in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the central government obliged large-lot power consumers to cut peak-hour electricity use by 15 percent from July while calling for similar voluntary efforts by others.
The Union of Kansai Governments hopes the campaign will help attain its goal of cutting annual electricity use by 5 to 10 percent, at a time Kansai Electric Power Co. is calling for voluntary efforts by households and firms to reduce energy use by around 15 percent from July 1 to Sept. 22 due to an expected power shortage this summer.
Also in the union, Wakayama is set to have employees work no overtime in August, Tokushima will begin daylight saving time in July, Tottori allowed employees to don polo shirts as part of ''Cool Biz'' casual attire, and Shiga is graphically releasing data on power consumption at some buildings to raise awareness about the need for energy conservation.
During Hyogo's daylight saving time through Sept. 22, about 2,800 or 40 percent of prefectural employees are to start work 45 minutes earlier than usual, half the lights will be turned off in the offices of the governor and senior officials, and the prefectural office will turn off all lights at 6 p.m.
The measures are aimed not only at cutting the office's electricity use by 15 percent in peak hours, but also encouraging employees and residents to change the ways they work and their lifestyles, an official said.
In Wakayama, which says it was second in Japan in electricity use per capita in fiscal 2008, the planned elimination of after-hours work in August is a main feature of its range of energy-saving measures to be taken through Sept. 23, with the aim also of discouraging employees from working long hours.
''Daylight saving time won't address the problem of overtime nor lead to saving on electricity,'' Gov. Yoshinobu Nisaka was quoted by an official as saying in proposing the feature program, which requires the boss of any employee who worked overtime to report the necessity and results of the work.
The prefectural government aims to cut electricity usage by 5 percent over the three-month period, and 10 percent in August, through the discounting of admission fees for its cultural facilities, to encourage residents to go out in the daylight and reduce energy consumption at home.
The Shiga prefectural government said it has already reduced energy use by about 10 percent this month since it began releasing electricity usage data at each of its buildings.
As the country's worst nuclear crisis continues at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeastern Japan, raising concerns about the safety of nuclear power, Kansai Electric, which serves western Japan, has been unable to restart some of its reactors and called for the 15 percent power-saving effort in its service area earlier this month.
As for service areas of TEPCO and Tohoku Electric Power Co., whose power plants suffered damage in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the central government obliged large-lot power consumers to cut peak-hour electricity use by 15 percent from July while calling for similar voluntary efforts by others.
