FOCUS: Kansai area leads the charge in energy-saving businesses+

OSAKA, June 9 Kyodo -
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.
==Kyodo