Japan's Environment Ministry Selects Five Areas for 2009 Low Carbon City Project

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The Japanese Ministry of the Environment announced on July 16, 2009 the five areas selected for its grant aid project in fiscal 2009, which is aimed at encouraging the creation of low carbon emitting areas. The five selected are Chiyoda Ward in Tokyo, the Kyoto metropolitan area, Settsu City in Osaka Prefecture, the cities of Ibaraki and Minoo in Osaka Prefecture, and Kirishima City in Kagoshima Prefecture. The ministry will be helping these cities create more eco-friendly areas by providing subsidies to cover part of their operating costs.

Under the project, for example, Chiyoda is installing a network of quick electric vehicle (EV) chargers around the main Tokyo train station in order to promote more use of electric vehicles.

The cities of Ibaraki and Minoo are jointly building a bicycle rental facility in front of the Saito-Nishi train station, and introducing an automatic control system that works with a card pass system for public transportation users. The entire facility is controlled automatically, so people can register themselves, rent a bike, and even rent an electric-assist bicycle around the clock.

The cities of Kyoto, Setsu, and Kirishima are, respectively, introducing a car-sharing system, implementing a bicycle rental service, and building a park-and-ride system. The Ministry accepted applications for the grant projects from April 27 to May 29, 2009, and then examined and selected these areas together with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Tourism.

Japan's First Carbon-Neutral Railway Station to Open in Settsu, Osaka Prefecture (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/028797.html
Car-sharing Stations Established near All Stations on Yamanote Line by ORIX (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/029286.html

Posted: 2009/10/08 06:00:15 AM

TAG Global warming , Government , Local government