# Section 3 The New Germ Showing the First Signs of Growing at the Sight of 100 Years from Now

Three types of societies have to be realized at the same time to make a sustainable society; a low-carbon society by drastically reducing GHG emissions, a sound material-cycle society – where 3Rs and proper waste treatment have been advanced – and a society in harmony with nature that can enjoy and pass the blessing of nature on to future.

In this section, first we will focus on technical aspects of environmental measures that will demonstrate multiple conservation efforts, and will consider how environmental technologies for the future should be. Secondly we will focus on the aspect of the great effect, demonstrated by combining the power of individuals and the whole of society, and will consider our future direction from environmental measures that are conducted by mutual cooperation.

## 1 Technological Synergetic Effects of Environmental Measures

## (1) Wastes and $ CO_{2} $ emissions reduced by methanization

Japan’s waste biomass (animal manure, sewage sludge, black liquor, waste paper, food wastes, construction waste woods and waste from sawmills) in 2008 is expected to be about 300 million tons. Among the waste biomass, the amount of food wastes generated is about 19 million tons annually, and about 14 million tons of this is incinerated or disposed in landfills. The amount of food disposed of before expiration date is considered to have reached 5 to 9 million tons.

It is desirable to recycle food wastes as resources for recycling, since they are generated in spite of the efforts being made to reduce them. Specific ways of recycling them include eco-feeding and composting or using them as energy resources. The three main methods of using them as energy resources are fermentation, gasification and direct combustion. In this white paper, we will introduce methane fermentation, which is suitable for treating food wastes such as raw garbage containing high percentage of moisture.

Methane fermentation (methane gasification) is a method of producing methane, etc. by methane fermentation of organic materials, such as raw garbage, by the action of micro organisms including methanogen and collecting the generated biogas (Figure3-3-1).

The government is promoting the maintenance of methane gasification facilities by backing “financial support for establishing a Sound Material-cycle Society,” targeted at municipalities, and by drafting the “methane gasification (methane from raw garbage) facilities maintenance manual (January 2008).”

## (2) Approaches for a society in harmony and the reduction of $ CO_{2} $ emissions

Japan is endowed with an abundance of unused biomass (non-edible portions of farming crops and forestry waste) estimated to be about 22 million tons as of 2008. Utilization of such biomass contributes to measures against global warming, since utilization of biomass does not emit additional $ CO_{2} $ into the atmosphere.

Omotetanzawa outdoor activity center in Hadano City, Kanagawa Prefecture, is performing maintenance of the surrounding Satoyama - the border zone or area between mountain foothills and arable flat land - in collaboration with volunteers, and is using the logged wood, which is produced during maintenance activities, as the fuel for wood biomass boilers for heating and to supply hot water to the surrounding facilities. Around 1,000 m $ ^{3} $ of wood chips are used annually from these activities, and the reduction effect is expected to be about 20,000 liters of kerosene (Photo3-3-1).

Figure3-3-1 Management Flow of a Methane Fermentation Facility

Source : Japan Waste Management Association’s publication the Guidelines for Program Design on Waste Treatment Facilities, 2006 revised edition published in June, 2006 (partially arranged)