Japan Finances World's First CDM Railway Project under the Kyoto Protocol

The Delhi Mass Rapid Transport System Project, which saw the deployment of a Japanese regenerative braking technology on subway trains in Delhi, India, was registered as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project on December 29, 2007. This is the world's first railway CDM project under the Kyoto Protocol, and it was financed through a yen loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). Another fund company, Japan Carbon Finance Ltd. (JCF), established in 2004 by JBIC and several Japanese enterprises, has agreed to buy the resulting carbon credits, which, generated through to 2012, is expected to total about 200,000 metric tons.

The Japanese technology converts the kinetic energy of moving subway trains into electricity by using the energy of trains to generate electricity during braking. The power generated is then sent to overhead lines and used to run other trains.

This braking/generating system reduces the amount of electricity needed for running the subway trains by 33 percent. Because the electricity generated from the kinetic energy of braking trains is considered "clean," with no related greenhouse gas emissions, the JCF will be able to acquire carbon credits to offset the amount of carbon dioxide that would otherwise be emitted by coal-fired power generation.

http://www.jbic.go.jp/english/index.php

Posted: 2008/06/14 09:13:00 AM