Panasonic, Japan And Their Vision For A Sustainable Future
Projected plan for Source: http;//http://news.panasonic.net/
As green hype and renewables fever and smart-tech furor gets ever more intense we’re seeing an increase in urban environmentalism, particularly through the development of “smart” towns and cities. The most prominent of these, of course is the UAE’s Green City of the Future Masdar, which was proposed in 2006 to be the world’s first zero-carbon city and is set to conclude in 2013. The next eco-friendly town, expected to be completed by March 2014 the following year is a development spearheaded by Panasonic with eight other companies, who will be utilising the latest energy-saving and generating technological wonders. And the big surprise is that it will be built in Japan!
After March’s horrendous earthquake left the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant - one of Japan’s major sources of energy – incapacitated (followed by the Hamaoka plant shutting down for safety reasons), the 2011 economic forecast was subsequently downgraded. As such, you may have expected it unlikely that such an unprecedented (and likely very expensive) project as the “Town of the Future” would get the go-ahead. In fact, the opposite is true. Prime Minister Naoto Kan was spurred on by the disaster to outline a new forward-looking future energy policy for Japan. Already the government had urged its citizens to save as much energy as possible; room temps of 28 degrees Celcius were maintained at home, people used fans instead of air-con, companies cut electricity by 15%. The policy involves an increase in renewable focus, particularly solar and wind power, but it also shows real foresight with plans to invest in innovative technologies. This is where Panasonic swept in. And they did so with vigor.
Source: http://www.livegreenblog.com/
Having already acquired Sanyo to become Japan’s second largest electronics companies (after Hitachi, Ltd), they are making steps to diversify its focus by positioning itself as the leader in a market that has limitless potential. The new town, Fujisawa, is to be given the acronym SST for Sustainable Smart Town. It will be the greenest urban development on Earth. It will be built on 47 acres of vacant space around 50km west of Tokyo, once the location of a Panasonic factory. There will be 1,000 houses utilising tried and tested technologies but in an innovative multi-layered format. There will be an energy management system which with the utmost efficiency synergistically utilises energy created, stored and saved. This system will extend to household appliances, where Panasonic’s ECO NAVI range of smart-tech appliances can sense and adjust to their surroundings to maximise energy savings. The main source of power will be solar; solar panelling will adorn the rooftops or buildings and will even be designed to blend with the town’s greenery. The energy created from this will be stored in new lithium-ion storage batteries that Panasonic developed (with the help of newly acquired Sanyo). Panasonic boasts that the battery will store energy enough to power a home for a week.
Source: http://www.livegreenblog.com/
Fujisawa’s layout will mesh nicely with the landscape encompassing it. The main roads will be lined with vegetation and a “green axis” of parks. Naturally, the vehicles on these roads will run on electricity, however if the solar-power source is insufficient to power vehicles across the board, cars will not be entirely free of emissions. There may be a Zipcar-type system promoting electrical vehicles alongside home garages and public facilities taylored to electric vehicles, or they may move away from this idea and create public parking areas that store cars shared between families in 10-20 homes. Supplementing this will be electric bicycles that will be shared amongst residents.
It all sounds like a little patch of heaven, right? The real question, when gaging the bigger picture, is whether such built-from scratch developments – wondrous as they are – are sufficient to steer humanity away from catastrophe towards a better future, or whether funds and focus need to be directed towards developing the infrastructures we already have. It’s a difficult dilema, and only time will tell. But one things for sure, in a future world which is entirely and absolutely sustainable and carbon-free, these will be baby steps – the cities that tested the formula.
Panasonic has dedicated its corporation and more importently its people to create a sustainable organization from the top down and the bottom up. The concept for the "sustainable smart town" for 1,000 homes west of Tokyo will be a great experiment that if successful, can be repeated in many other approriate places across the earth. I hope that the concept is made flexible enough to be applied to existing cities and towns which will if implemented, make a larger dent in the climate change mitigation. Panasonic is one of those unusual corporations that through enlightened leadership can change the world for the better through a people centered economy. I will be following this project to see how it pans out.
This has to be one of the coolest and most forward thinking developments from an electronics corporation this century. Imagine the fallout if this project is, as I hope it will be, a groundbreaking success. Would set out a path for others to follow, and in terms of tackling climate change and energy consumption, could be the start of something huge. Good luck to Panasonic.
I am awed and touched, as I have always and often wondered what we could do if WE turned our brilliance in TECHNOLOGY towards humanity's needs. Yet, it took catastrophe and loss to finally HARNESS what was there ALL THE TIME> The knoweldge to DO in a way that benefits and sustains all. The KNOWLEGE with the WILL to CREATE something absolute new and right, just and good.__
This is profound promise that should be a global incentive and goal. We give up some individuality for continued existence in better greener environment. It will be difficult for some areas to even consider, but if it progesses on a town or city basis then it can eventually prevail. I nominate California of the USA as the first candidate state to put this idea into effect.
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