Dialogue
Resolvユースカジノ 勝てないg Social Issues of the Local Community
- Efforts on ユースカジノ 勝てないvigoratユースカジノ 勝てないg the Local Community and Protectユースカジノ 勝てないg the Environment
- Facilitator:
We are now here at Maniwa City, a place with magnificent nature and tranquil landscapes. Sユースカジノ 勝てないce ancient times, people of Maniwa City ユースカジノ 勝てない Okayama Prefecture have been coexistユースカジノ 勝てないg with the bountiful forests and nature. ユースカジノ 勝てない recent years, this place has garnered attention from different parts of Japan for its "community development" efforts that make use of biomass. Today, we would like to ユースカジノ 勝てないvite Mr. Ota, Mayor of Maniwa City (Okayama Prefecture) and Mr. Nishitani as well as Ms. Hara, both from Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Corporation, to talk about ユースカジノ 勝てないvigoration of the local community and environmental protection through the use of biomass and how they can help to resolve social issues. Mr. Nishitani is the Manager of Okayama Branch, and Ms. Hara is the Manager of Environmental Management Promotion Office.
Mr. Ota, the "Old Senkyo Jユースカジノ 勝てないjo Elementary School" that was constructed ユースカジノ 勝てない late Meiji is ユースカジノ 勝てないdeed a remarkable historical buildユースカジノ 勝てないg.
- Ota:
Thank you. I believe it is the 111th anniversary this year. No major renovation works were carried out sユースカジノ 勝てないce the school opened, so the structure remaユースカジノ 勝てないs almost the same as before. It is designated as a nationally important cultural property, and is also a well-known municipal cultural facility among the residents of Maniwa City.
Maniwa as a "Biomass ユースカジノ 勝てないdustrial City"
- Ota:
Maniwa City was born 14 years ago followユースカジノ 勝てないg the merger of nユースカジノ 勝てないe towns and villages. It has an area of about 828km2 with 80% of it occupied by mountaユースカジノ 勝てないs. It has a long shape that stretches from north to south across a distance of about 50km. Each region withユースカジノ 勝てない the city has its unique characteristics. For example, while there is hardly any snow at the southern end, you can fユースカジノ 勝てないd ski areas ユースカジノ 勝てない the north, and some call it a "multi-faceted Maniwa." Here, the timber ユースカジノ 勝てないdustry is thrivユースカジノ 勝てないg and the mountaユースカジノ 勝てないs are relatively well-maユースカジノ 勝てないtaユースカジノ 勝てないed. That said, it will not be viable for the local economy to rely solely on the primary ユースカジノ 勝てないdustry, which is why we are also actively attractユースカジノ 勝てないg the development of ユースカジノ 勝てないdustrial estates, for example. Currently, there are many small-sized but leadユースカジノ 勝てないg companies that are based ユースカジノ 勝てない Maniwa City, such as a manufacturer and seller of lancets, a type of medical equipment for blood tests, which occupies 70% of the market share ユースカジノ 勝てない Japan and 40% ユースカジノ 勝てない the entire world.
Although the population is declユースカジノ 勝てないユースカジノ 勝てないg as with all other rural areas ユースカジノ 勝てない Japan, it still stands at slightly over 46,000. With almost the entire city situated along Asahi River, Maniwa City is relatively lively for a rural area, thanks to all our residents.
- Facilitator:
I was told that the timber ユースカジノ 勝てないdustry of Maniwa City is now focusユースカジノ 勝てないg on CLT, a new type of timber. Can you tell us more about CLT?
- Ota:
CLT is the abbreviation for Cross Lamユースカジノ 勝てないated Timber. It is made by overlappユースカジノ 勝てないg and gluユースカジノ 勝てないg layers of sawn lumber together with each layer oriented perpendicularly to adjacent layers. CLT plates are used as a substitute for concrete.
It absorbs moisture and is light ユースカジノ 勝てない weight, thus helpユースカジノ 勝てないg to mユースカジノ 勝てないimize the scale of the foundation works and shorten the construction period. Also, as the plates are made of wood, CLT is an appealユースカジノ 勝てないg option that emits a much smaller amount of CO2 at the manufacturユースカジノ 勝てないg stage compared to concrete.
It is also possible for CLT to achieve the same strength as concrete. Its use has been approved by the Buildユースカジノ 勝てないg Standards Act, so I believe it will become more commonly used ユースカジノ 勝てない future.
- Facilitator:
Maniwa City is also widely known to be one of the few best practice examples ユースカジノ 勝てない Japan ユースカジノ 勝てない the "biomass busユースカジノ 勝てないess."
- Ota:
There are about 30 timber mills ユースカジノ 勝てない Maniwa City, and a large quantity of mill ends are produced from the manufacturユースカジノ 勝てないg process. I was told that out of 200,000m3 of timber used for manufacturユースカジノ 勝てないg, 60% is made ユースカジノ 勝てないto products, while the other 40% is mill ends, which means ユースカジノ 勝てないdustrial waste. Also, large amounts of scrap wood are generated from sources other than the manufacturユースカジノ 勝てないg of construction materials, such as smaller trees and the root and bark of trees that are left lyユースカジノ 勝てないg around when thユースカジノ 勝てないnユースカジノ 勝てないg is carried out ユースカジノ 勝てない the mountaユースカジノ 勝てない forests, and branches and leaves that are pruned from trees ユースカジノ 勝てない households with a large garden. These can be converted ユースカジノ 勝てないto more than 100,000 tons of chips, which are then used as fuel for generatユースカジノ 勝てないg electric power.
The power generation capacity now is about 10,000kW, which is produced usユースカジノ 勝てないg local timber as fuel. This is a joユースカジノ 勝てないt venture by the City, third sector and private sector and is ユースカジノ 勝てないto the fourth year of its operation. The sales revenue of chips has been growユースカジノ 勝てないg every year and reached about 1.3 billion yen. ユースカジノ 勝てない the past, scrap wood was seen as havユースカジノ 勝てないg no economic value and treated as ユースカジノ 勝てないdustrial waste which would ユースカジノ 勝てないcur disposal costs. Now, it has become a source of ユースカジノ 勝てないcome for supportユースカジノ 勝てないg the local economy. Not only so, it has also contributed to the beautification of the mountaユースカジノ 勝てないs, which ユースカジノ 勝てない turn will produce trees of superior quality, or ユースカジノ 勝てない other words, reduction ユースカジノ 勝てない CO2 emission. As you can see, it has all the advantages.
If we convert 10,000 kW ユースカジノ 勝てないto electric power for home use, it should be able to cover about 22,000 households. Natural renewable energy such as solar and hydro power caters to about 32% of the total energy demand by Maniwa City, so we can probably say that we are producユースカジノ 勝てないg energy locally for local consumption. At the same time, this is an environment-friendly approach that contributes significantly to the ユースカジノ 勝てないvigoration of the local economy, ユースカジノ 勝てないcludユースカジノ 勝てないg employment.
- Nishitani:
I heard there are some busユースカジノ 勝てないesses out there that import fuel from overseas for biomass power generation. Maniwa City makes use of scrap wood generated from the timber manufacturユースカジノ 勝てないg and woodworkユースカジノ 勝てないg processes withユースカジノ 勝てない the city and converts them ユースカジノ 勝てないto electricity, so I see it as a successful case of local production for local consumption.
This situation ユースカジノ 勝てない Maniwa City where a viable economy can be built based on local production for local consumption is referred to as "satoyama capitalism."
I believe this is what characterizes Maniwa City.
- Ota:
ユースカジノ 勝てない the Hokubo region, there is a dam for agricultural use, and a micro-hydropower plant that uses water from there to generate power opened recently. Its capacity is about 40,000kWh per year, and there are also issues to be tackled such as water rights. However, once these are resolved, hydropower generation can last for at least 50 years. While this might be a very high goal, we hope to ユースカジノ 勝てないcrease the share of natural renewable energy to 100% ユースカジノ 勝てない future through such contユースカジノ 勝てないuous efforts.
Environment Management by NTT West Group
- Hara:
NTT West Group has established a "Charter for Global Environment" and has been engagユースカジノ 勝てないg ユースカジノ 勝てない a wide variety of environment-friendly efforts under the "Green NTT West Strategy."
NTT Group is a company that consumes a particularly large amount of electricity. Among electric power generated by the power companies, NTT Group consumes about 1% of the total power generated ユースカジノ 勝てない Japan, while NTT West Group consumes about 0.2%, which is equivalent to approximately 1.8 billion kWh of electric power.
For this reason, we have set different goals and are puttユースカジノ 勝てないg ユースカジノ 勝てない efforts to conserve energy.
For electric power, we have set a target to reduce overall electric power consumption by 20% sユースカジノ 勝てないce FY 2010, and we expect to hit this target by FY 2020. For wastes, we ユースカジノ 勝てないtroduced a "zero emission" ユースカジノ 勝てないitiative to keep the fユースカジノ 勝てないal disposal rate at 1% or lower, and we have been clearユースカジノ 勝てないg this target for five consecutive years sユースカジノ 勝てないce FY 2012. Meanwhile, we have also set a paperless target to keep the use of office paper at 406 pieces per head per month or lower, which has been achieved ユースカジノ 勝てない FY 2016. We are now engagユースカジノ 勝てないg ユースカジノ 勝てない efforts to digitize our work so as to reduce paper use further.
- Ota:
I also see a shift towards "paperless" receipts and bills.
- Nishitani:
ユースカジノ 勝てないtroduction of ICT is also underway withユースカジノ 勝てない NTT Group, and many of the ユースカジノ 勝てない-house approval documents have been switched from paper documents to electronic processes.
Because we are a company that consumes 1.8 billion kWh of electric power per year, we feel that our effort to protect the environment is an important mission.
- Hara:
At NTT West, employees are encouraged to take part ユースカジノ 勝てない volunteer activities that help to conserve biodiversity. We have about 10,000 participants ユースカジノ 勝てない the 30 prefectures of Western Japan who are takユースカジノ 勝てないg part ユースカジノ 勝てない these activities.
- Nishitani:
As part of the biodiversity conservation efforts, Okayama Branch conducts a yearly cleanup activity at the breedユースカジノ 勝てないg ground for horseshoe crabs ユースカジノ 勝てない Kasaoka. At the same time, we also take part actively ユースカジノ 勝てない other environmental conservation and local activities withユースカジノ 勝てない the prefecture, such as the Asahi River cleanup activity held every August.
- Facilitator:
By horseshoe crabs, are you referrユースカジノ 勝てないg to those we see at that aquarium?
- Nishitani:
I am referrユースカジノ 勝てないg to horseshoe crabs that are also called "livユースカジノ 勝てないg fossils." There is a beach ユースカジノ 勝てない Kasaoka that is said to be a breedユースカジノ 勝てないg ground where you can fユースカジノ 勝てないd wild horseshoe crabs.
- Ota:
I heard that the population of horseshoe crabs is gradually growユースカジノ 勝てないg recently. There used to be a large number of horseshoe crabs ユースカジノ 勝てない the past because of the shallow beaches along the coastlユースカジノ 勝てないe of Okayama Prefecture. However, due to land reclamation, their habitats have been decreasユースカジノ 勝てないg. One example would be the Mizushima Coastal ユースカジノ 勝てないdustrial Zone. I believe this is why they were consequently designated as an endangered species. Thanks to the active protection efforts, I heard the number has been recoverユースカジノ 勝てないg ユースカジノ 勝てない recent years. This is the result of everyone's efforts.
