The Marshall Islands Journal — Friday, October 30, 2015

BUsiness direCtOrY%($87,&,$1"ENElTS OF CREATINGECO FRIENDLY CITIESGIFF JOHNSON“The future is now” is the best way
to think about the convergence of technology, vision and determination in-DSDQ·VHPHUJLQJ´HFRFLWLHVµ3DFLÀFisland journalists were treated Friday
to a ride in a hydrogen-powered sedan,
toured “smart houses,” viewed vertical wall panels used for growing fruits
and vegetables specially designed forcrowded urban areas, and were introduced to one- and two-passenger electric vehicles increasingly in use forcity transport.
Toyota City is one of 27 environmentally friendly cities recognized by
the national government of Japan. To
promote the concept, Toyota City government established “Ecoful Town,”a showcase campus where local residents and visitors can see the visionand the technology that supports it inaction.
The big picture, said Kasuya Tadahiro, Toyota City’s vice director of theModel Environment City Promotion
Division, is this city of 420,000 aims
to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions
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and 50 percent by 2050 — an ambitious climate mitigation agenda that3DFLÀF LVODQG OHDGHUV KDYH FDOOHG RQ
nations of the world to adopt.
This city grew as an “automobilecity” around the Toyota motors headquarters and a large vehicle production
plant, which not surprisingly by theVDQGVSURGXFHGDQHJDWLYH
impact of pollution from carbon emissions of heavy vehicle use. Despite
this background, Toyota City was one
RIWKHÀUVWFLWLHVLQWKHFRXQWU\WRWDFNle its environmental problems head on,
produce an action plan to mitigate climate change, and begin implementing
the new vision for the city, said Ecoful
Town tour guide, Aiyumi Nagamatsu.
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as a ‘smart city’ by the national government,” she said. “This is a pioneering
low-carbon city.” A city government
pamphlet enthusiastically describes
its plan for the area as “programs toaccelerate the creation of a vanguard
environment city.”At the family level, this has produced designs for a “smart house,”the centerpiece of which is the Home
Energy Management System (HEMS),technology that informs residents of
their energy consumption patterns athome through a wall monitor and allows them to minimize use of fossil
fuel-generated power.
Nagamatsu showed how an energyHIÀFLHQWVPDUWKRXVHFRXOGRSHUDWHLQ
the evening from power provided fromthe leftover energy in solar-charged

5(7$,/Toyota City electric vehicles: Ecoful Town tour guide Aiyumi
Nagamatsu shows visitors the one passenger electric vehicles
that the Toyota City government rents to residents and visitors
for local transport. Photo: Floyd K. Takeuchi/Waka Photos.
batteries of a family’s electric vehicle. As this power source declined
overnight, the city’s grid power system kicks in for a few hours to ensure
power stability through the night. The
smart house concept integrates multiple power sources to reduce costs tothe household, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
To date, there are 67 smart housesin Toyota City, and the city government is aggressively promoting expansion of the program to local residents
through a combination of public relaWLRQVDQGPRUHVLJQLÀFDQWO\WD[FXWV
and subsidies to those who adopt clean
energy options. “We provide a subsidy to those who introduce HEMS totheir homes as well as cutting property
taxes,” said Tadahiro. Families canaccumulate “eco-points” for environmentally friendly behavior, such as
recycling that result in prizes or subsidies from the local government.
“The reason we created ‘Ecoful
Town’ was to demonstrate to our citizens in the urban area what can bedone,” said Tadahiro, whose enthusiasm for the Smart City program isobvious. The city’s action plan covers
environmentally friendly planning fortransportation, forestry and the every
day life of local residents, he said.
Nagamatsu explained that Toyota
City has established 45 charging stations for one- and two-seat electricvehicles that the city government rents
to anyone who signs up to become amember. Four thousand people havejoined, and the cost to use these vehicles while higher than a bus fee is lessthan a taxi fare, she said. “There isn’t a

lot of public transport in Toyota City,”
she said. “So this is a convenient way
to get around.”
The city government also has twohydrogen-powered vehicles, built byToyota, that it uses largely as demonstration of the technology. Two hydrogen service stations service these vehicles that can drive 650 kilometers ona full tank, and take just three minutes
to “gas up.” Toyota is producing threeof these vehicles per day at its plant
and though still in its infancy, there areabout 100 hydrogen service stations
nationwide in Japan.
Of particular interest to visiting PaFLÀF MRXUQDOLVWV DW WKH (FRIXO 7RZQ
area was a vertical panel system forurban agriculture production. The panels, roughly six-feet wide by 10 tall,contain space for dozens of potted
plants, which offer businesses or local residents options for growing foodplants in congested areas.
Now in its third year, the Ecoful
Town demonstration campus has been
visited by over 150,000 people from-DSDQ DQG  QDWLRQV VDLG 7DGDKLUR
It is introducing visitors to the adYDQWDJHV DQG SRZHU HIÀFLHQF\ RI WKHHEMS system. He acknowledged thatit is not yet widely used in ordinaryhouseholds. But with 67 smart homes
already in operation and an active proJUDPRISURPRWLRQDQGÀQDQFLDOLQFHQtives to those who change to environmentally friendly lifestyle, Tadahiro isFRQÀGHQWWKHFRQFHSWZLOOFRQWLQXHWRgain traction with urban residents as
Toyota City marches on its plans for
a 50 percent cut in carbon emissions
over the coming 35 years.

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