Hokkaido Green Fund (HGF), a nonprofit organization (NPO) in Hokkaido, northern Japan, won the 2004 Director-General's Award from the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, presented at the New Energy Foundation's Ninth New Energy Awards on 19 January, 2005.

The foundation established the new energy awards in fiscal 1996 and to recognize outstanding new energy equipment and systems, and new energy applications, with the aim of promoting and raising awareness of new forms of energy that are eco friendly.

In September 2001, HGF built Japan's first citizen-funded wind power plant, nicknamed "Hamakaze-chan," which means "beach wind," in the town of Hamatonbetsu in Hokkaido. It built two more citizen-funded wind power stations in the city of Ishikari in Hokkaido in January 2005--Japan's fourth and fifth of this kind.

Toru Suzuki, HGF's secretary-general, stated that "There are also efforts underway to construct citizen-sponsored wind plants in the Tohoku and Kanto region in fiscal 2005. We hope that we can increase the number of wind stations by supporting NPOs and local communities around the nation. We want to empower citizens to use clean energy from windmills they've funded themselves." The group also wants to create a green power program for private use that allows people to choose electricity that was generated through renewable energy generation.

http://www.h-greenfund.jp/index.html

Posted: 2005/08/24 06:15:29 AM
Japanese version

TAG Energy , Government , NGO/Citizen