Useless waste and necessary waste　1.5.1 Investment target

The target of future energy saving investment from now on should be put on the introduction of renewable energy and energy saving in each household. But neither the government nor local governments currently have the financial resources to collectively carry out this big project.

If a big project does not start up, there is an idea that you can bundle small projects and create an effect that is comparable to a big project. In other words, small makes big.

"Setsuden-mushi (a profit making device)," which is a power-saving device that aims to reduce the amount of standby electricity consumption by 1 million kilowatts, is currently being used by some large companies, local governments and government agencies, but they are rarely used at home.

The reasons why Setsuden-mushi (a profit making device) does not penetrate into the home are as follows.

1. The price of Setsuden-mushi (a profit making device) is too high,

2. People’s energy conservation awareness is low.

The price of Setsuden-mushi (a profit making device) is 9,000 yen. Even if you save 2,000 yen a year, it will take four and a half years to get the purchase money back. Whether or not to consider this as long is an individual decision, but it may be long for impatient Japanese people.

In case people understand that cooperation at the household level is indispensable for energy conservation, prevention of global warming and conservation of the global environment, but they can’t participate or they do not participate, the last solution is to build energy conservation functions in devices used at home. It is to be built-in. In other words, the future investment target as a manufacturer is to manufacture and to sell the equipment with a built-in energy saving function.

Speaking of investment, people want to seek a big return quickly. Investment in global projects to protect the global environment has great significance and its return extends to our descendants. I would like to meet with a manufacturer that can understand this.

I would like to consider solar power generation in a private house as one example of introducing renewable energy.

The solar power generation system has been improved and subsidies to buy the system can be obtained from the Energy Agency. As a result, more people are installing it in their homes. It costs about 2 to 3 million yen to install a solar power generation system. However in the long run for 20 to 30 years, you can save electricity bills. The 12,000 system was sold only in 1997.

Next, let's look at the wind power generation business though this is not individual-level renewable energy.

This is a business that uses wind power to generate electricity and has the electricity company buy it for profit. In Japan it is said that wind power generation is not economically efficient even with national subsidies. However, they have a tradition of wind mills in Europe and the wind conditions are good and profitable. The most advanced country is Denmark. As of 1997, it accounted for 5% of the total power generation and the total power generation was 850,000 kW. Denmark has decided not to introduce nuclear power. By 2030, they aim to generate one-third to one-half of total power generation with wind. Wind power generators made in Denmark are said to be the best. In Europe, countries other than France are trying to abandon the option of nuclear powergeneration. The Netherlands and Germany are trying to promote the use of renewable energy such as natural gas-fired power plants which emit less carbon dioxide and wind power which does not emit carbon dioxide.

Tomen, a Japanese trading company, decided in April 1997 to construct and operate a total of 760,000 kilowatts of power generation facilities as a power producer in three southern European countries of Spain, Italy and Portugal. The total project cost is over 150 billion yen and the project will be completed by 2003 step by step. They construct a 525,000 kW power generation facility in Spain, 230,000 kW in Italy and 10,000 kW in Portugal as a joint venture or by itself and wholesale it to the power companies in each country. It is now well beyond the world's largest wind farm (165,000 kW), which the company operates in California, USA. I would like them to make the most of this technical know-how in Japan.