Wednesday, January 18, 2012

No. 35: Using fallen leaves and dead branches for power generation (January 18, 2012)

Business trend
The Ministryof Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism decided to install generation equipment in large-scale government-managed parks as an emergency power source in a time of disaster. It plans to start testing in one or two of the 17 government-managed parks across the country. The equipment to be installed generates by running a turbine using gases created by steaming fallen leaves and dead branches. It is designed to keep high generation efficiency even with unhomogeneous fuels. The ministry plans to put the technology into practical use in one year in alliance with private companies.

The electricity to be generated will be used for lighting inside the park normally and for rescue activities in case of power outage in a disaster. The ministry calculates that a government-managed park in Tokyo with an area of 1,650,000 square meters can supply enough amount fallen leaves and dead branches to generate about 10% of annual electricity demand. The ministry decision aims to decrease the amount of plant trash by using weeds and fallen leaves as fuel. About 2,000,000 tons of plant trash is produced annually in this country, most of which is incinerated while only a small amount is used for fertilizers.

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