Japan's First Carbon-Neutral Railway Station to Open in Settsu City

Copyright Hankyu Corp.

The city of Settsu in Osaka Prefecture and Hankyu Corp. announced on December 9, 2009, that the grand opening of Hankyu Railway's Settsushi station on the Kyoto Main Line will be held on March 14, 2010. The station, which is being constructed as part of their Minami-senrioka town development project, will be the nation's first carbon-neutral railway station, and will have zero net carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions originating from its facilities (for more information about the Minami-senrioka town development project, see the JFS article listed below).

The amount of CO2 emissions that the station would normally generate through its electricity usage (lighting, elevators, etc.) and water usage is estimated to be about 70 tons per year. To reduce the amount attributed to the electricity usage, the station will install a photovoltaic system, a heat pump electric water heater, and light-emitting diode (LED) lighting fixtures, as well as elevators that store and utilize the energy recovered from their regenerative brakes when descending.

To address the emissions through water usage, the station will install waterless urinals in its men's bathroom, as well as a system that collects rain water on the roof of station platforms for flushing toilets and watering plants. Another measure is to plant vegetation at the station -- including on some walls. These measures are expected to reduce CO2 emissions by about 36 tons per year. The remaining 34 tons, which cannot be reduced directly, will be offset by emissions trading.

Japan's First Carbon-Neutral Railway Station to Open in Settsu, Osaka Prefecture (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/028797.html

Posted: 2010/03/01 06:00:15 AM

TAG Energy , Global warming , Local government , Non-manufacturing industry