The Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) has designated eco-friendly electricity as a green purchasing item in fiscal 2004 (ends March 31 2005); it aims to use renewable energy sources for at least 5 percent of its overall power consumption. As a first step, it started buying 'green' electricity for the Edo-Tokyo Museum in November 2004. This is the first attempt at implementing this kind of policy in Japan.
The TMG established a 'Policy for Green Procurement Promotion' to promote green procurement and reduce environmental impacts arising from day-to-day operations. This policy generally covers purchase of perishables and fixtures, as well as the costs of preparing, printing and binding documents, but 'electricity' was not added to the list until fiscal 2004.
As a measure to counter global warming, the TMG intends to expand its green procurement of electricity for large-scale metropolitan government institutions that consume more than a certain amount of electricity.
http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/ENGLISH/TOPICS/2004/ftebh100.htm
Posted: 2005/03/03 11:56:43 AM
Japanese version