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Kansai area leads the charge in energy-saving businesses

posted on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 11:49 AM

An increasing number of companies in the Kansai region are taking on the challenge of developing new businesses using their own energy-saving technologies amid the spotlight on the Green New Deal concept of U.S. President Barack Obama.

They include the Kansai office of the First Energy Service Co of Tokyo which has already received energy-support-service contract work from an aluminum rolling mill in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, and succeeded in reducing annual electricity consumption by 42 percent in three years.

The first energy-saving proposal by the FESCO office in Osaka’s Nishi Ward involved the compressor that cuts down on air used in the factory.

Since the compressor used a lot of electricity, FESCO’s office utilized the steam discharged from a waste heat boiler. It mounted a steam turbine with an output capacity of 200 kilowatts on the 280-kw compressor to rotate the turbine by surplus steam created by another work process in the plant.

In addition, an inverter control device was brought into the factory to adjust the speed of the motor’s rotation. As a result, the volume of annual electricity consumption dropped from 6,547,000 kws in 2001 to 3,768,000 kws in 2004.

FESCO said there was no initial investment as it managed to carry out the contract work with leased machinery. ‘‘We’re well-received by the factory side,’’ an official said.

Eiwat Ltd is a consulting company that also works on the development of environment-related machinery in Sakai’s Mihara Ward in Osaka Prefecture.

It manufactures a micro hydroelectric power generation device that produces electricity without the help of a dam. Water is brought into the apparatus by a vacuum pump and drives the turbine.

Eiwat President Masaaki Shibata said the power output is small at around 100 watts but added, ‘‘Unlike solar and wind power generation, the company’s device operates 24 hours a day and turns out the most stable natural energy.’’

His firm has also developed a combined wind and solar cell hybrid power system and has been delivering it to companies and schools.

The Kansai Bureau of the Economy, Trade and Industry, whose role is to promote firms such as those in environmental and energy-saving fields, established in March the ‘‘energy business platform Kansai’’ as a framework for the development and presentation of new technologies. It will hold seminars on the spread and awareness of energy saving, and also help bring businesses together.

More than 200 people representing energy saving-linked corporations, local governments and universities attended an inaugural seminar expressing their strong interest in environmental matters.

An official of the bureau said his office will join industry and academia in promoting energy-saving businesses and play its part to jump-start the Kansai economy.

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