## Column : Countermeasures against Smoke Damage in the Area around Besshi Copper Mine

In the middle of the Meiji era, the area around Besshi copper mine in Ehime Prefecture started to suffer crop damages in farmlands caused by sulfurous acid gas generated at a local refinery. In an effort to solve this problem, the refinery was moved to a uninhabited neighboring island in Niihama, but an air current above the Seto Inland Sea brought the sulfurous acid gas to the entire Toyo region, resulting in extensive damage to farm produce in that region.

To solve this problem, the manager of Besshi copper mine attempted to introduce the desulfurization technology to produce sulfuric acid from the refinery-producing sulfurous acid gas as well as the technology to produce fertilizers by using sulfurous acid (ammonium sulfate). Through repeated trials, the technologies have been improved to successfully materialize practical application. Those technologies put an end to long-lasting smoke damages that suffered Besshi copper mine for about fifty years, and also made it possible for the region to maintain their local agricultural businesses while enjoying the benefits of their key industry of copper business (a key industry in Japan at that time). Also, the idea of producing agricultural fertilizers by using sulfurous acid is quite close to today's concept of a sustainable society, where it is based on recycling wastes to produce useful goods.

countries in Asian fight the growing air-pollution problems they face in their industrialization. Such strengths and skills also lead to expanding business opportunities.

Figure 3-3-1: State of Installation of Flue Gas Desulfurization Facilities by year (FY1970-2002)

Source: Compiled from Survey on the State of Stationary Sources Relating to Air Pollution, Ministry of the Environment

### b. Energy-saving efforts by the industrial sectors after the oil crises

The outbreak of the Fourth Middle East War in October 1973 triggered a crude oil price hike, and this first oil crisis greatly threatened advanced industrial countries worldwide who were highly dependent on Middle East petroleum for energy sources to support their socioeconomic activities. At that time, Japan’s dependence on imported petroleum was enormous, accounting for as much as three-fourths of the entire domestic demand for energy fuels. To survive this crisis, business owners and managers aggressively promoted the introduction of energy-saving technologies, such as the continuous casting technology introduced by the steel industry, in an effort to maximize cost performance. Later, even after the industries regained stable economic growth and stabilization of crude oil prices, Japanese businesses continued their investments in development and research of energy-saving technologies. As a result, the introduction of effective energy-saving technologies has spread widely, including energy-efficient equipment, recycling techniques, and collection of waste heat and waste energy.

Now, Japan enjoys world-class industrial energy efficiency (Figure 3-3-1). Our efforts to lower the demand of energy input in the manufacturing process not only reduced environmental loads but also led to cost reduction in production activities, contributing greatly to the improvement of the international competitiveness of Japanese industries.