Feature: Railways and The Environment(part 3)
JR East Efforts to Prevent Global Warming
Hirokazu Inoue
| Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 51 (pp.22–27)
Feature: Railways and The Environment(part 3) JR East Efforts to Prevent Global Warming Hirokazu Inoue |
|
|
JR East’s Basic Stance |
|
The JR East group announced its JR East 2020 Vision—
Challenge in March 2008 outlining one of the group’s
basic management policies of meeting corporate social
responsibilities, which includes global environmental issues.
In summary, the policy recognizes that taking action on these
issues can no longer be put off, and we must act now to find a
solution for the future. Consequently, JR East has set a target
of halving CO2 emissions from its railway business by fiscal
2030 compared to fiscal 1990 and is working on meeting that
target. |
Achieving Environmental Targets |
|
In 1992, JR East established a basic philosophy and guidelines
for balancing environmental protection with business activities.
Based on this philosophy, the company formulated an action
plan and environmental targets for environmental protection.
In the field of preventing global warming, JR East set five
numerical targets described below and the fiscal 2007 results
met four of these targets (Table 1). |
| Table 1: Fiscal 2008 Environmental Targets (For Global Warming) |
Setting new environmental targets |
The JR East 2020 Vision—Challenge sets long-term reduction
of CO2 emissions from the railway business as a global
warming countermeasure. It specifies numerical targets for
electric power for train traction, power consumption per unit
of transport volume, and energy conservation at stations,
offices, and other facilities. Furthermore, it reviews the ratio of
energy-efficient rolling stock (Table 2). |
| Table 2: Revision of Environmental Targets (For Global Warming Prevention) |
Reducing CO2 |
| JR East generates electricity for traction, station and office lighting and air conditioning using its own power stations and also purchases electricity from electric utilities. Other than electricity, it also uses diesel and kerosene to run diesel locomotives and railcars and to heat stations, offices, and other facilities. The company’s total energy consumption is showing a downward trend due to efforts to increase generation efficiency. CO2 emissions in 2007 were 2.12 million tonnes and about the same as in fiscal 2006. Efforts were made to improve the efficiency of company power plants and to switch to energy-saving carriages, but low river levels cut hydroelectric power generation in fiscal 2007 compared to fiscal 2006. The resultant increased usage of substitute thermal power plants increased total emissions to the level of the previous year. In light of these results, the company is making reduction of energy consumption for train operations (73% now) a priority, and is working on various measures to reduce CO2 emissions (Figure 1). |
|
Reducing CO2 emissions from rolling stock and stations |
| To reduce the 70% of energy used by JR East for operating trains, by the end of fiscal 2007 the company has introduced 10,428 energy-saving carriages, which now make up 85% of all rolling stock. Energy-saving carriages use regenerative braking to convert kinetic energy at deceleration into electrical energy as well as variable voltage variable frequency (VVVF) inverters for more efficient motor control. The company is also working on reducing energy consumed (and CO2 emissions) by air conditioning, which forms the largest part of energy consumption at large stations. During rebuilding of Ueno Station and the Keiyo underground part at Tokyo Station, air-conditioning equipment using CFCs was removed and the capacity of coolers was reviewed and inverter control introduced. Efforts are also underway to optimize energy conservation by monitoring operations using IP networks and managing building energy use. As a result, energy consumption by coolers at Ueno Station has been cut by 40% (Figure 2). |
Reducing CO2 emissions from electric power plants |
To reduce CO2 emissions from its power plants, JR East is
replacing inefficient equipment and increasing the ratio of
renewables in its energy mix. |
| Figure 1: Change in CO2 Emissions Figure 2: Change in Energy-Saving Rolling Stock Figure 3: Change in CO2 Emissions at JR East Thermal Power Plant Per Generated Electricity Unit |
Reducing CO2 emissions throughout transport system |
The rail transport mode generally has a lower environmental impact than other modes, but railways cannot meet the needs of every customer. Consequently, JR East is working to reduce transport CO2 emissions as a whole by promoting intermodal transport, combining railways with other modes. Promoting intermodal transport requires improvements in convenience and amenity to increase the number of railway passengers. Specifically, JR East is working to provide easy access to more destinations by various means, such as adding more trains on the Shonan Shinjuku Line, and building new lines such as the Tohoku Through Line connecting Tokyo and Ueno stations. Also, national and local governments are helping in efforts to make stations and carriages barrier free. Emphasis is focused on seamless passage using the 20 million+ Suica IC cards now in circulation through expanded interoperability with PASMO IC cards used by other private railways and buses (JRTR 50, pp 6–17). Some taxis in greater Tokyo now accept Suica payment and more buses are using Suica too. The company is also promoting combined rail and car travel by offering easy-to-use car rental services such as Train-ta-kun with lower rental rates. Park-and-ride schemes are being developed too and JR East now (March 2008) has 11,000 parking spaces at 123 stations. |
Environmental Protection |
Forestation is a well-known way of storing released carbon
emissions and JR East has vast areas of railway forests
planted to protect lines from snowdrifts, avalanches, and
landslides (JRTR 51, pp 12–15). Although railway forests
originated in the late 19th century as a source of timber
for ties and construction and to protect lines against wind
and snow, today they contribute to protecting the natural
environment. The company’s 6 million trees on some 4200
ha absorb 17,000 tonnes of CO2 annually or about 0.8% of
JR East’s CO2 emissions, helping the effort to battle global
warming. |
| Photo: Solar panels Photo: Adatara Hometown Forestation Programme |
R&D in Environmental Technologies |
JR East has established environmental protection as one
of its key R&D goals. In the future, it will establish the
Environmental Technology Research Center (provisional
name) to heighten the environmental advantages of rail
using leading environmental technologies. Current efforts
include the Kiha E200 series, which entered service on the
Koumi Line in 2007 as the world’s first diesel hybrid railcar.
It uses a battery to store power from the diesel engine and
from regenerative braking and achieves 20% greater fuel
efficiency than standard diesel railcars while being 30 dB
quieter when standing at stations, and emitting 60% less
hazardous exhaust materials, such as NOX. |
Environmental Efforts in Workplace |
Future environmental protection depends on raising the consciousness of each and every employee in the JR East group. The company is using its JR East Eco Activities so everyone will think about environmental protection in their day-to-day work. In this way, environmental activities will spread through all group companies—not just at the parent— and each company will proactively spur on environmental protection. |
| Photo: World’s first diesel hybrid railcar running on Koumi Line |
| Hirokazu Inoue Mr Hirokazu Inoue is Manager of the Management Planning Department, and Leader of Environment Management Group at JR East. He joined the company in 1994, after graduating from Kobe University Graduate School of Civil Engineering. Prior to his current position, he was Acting Section Manager of the Barrier-Free Department at JR East’s Tokyo Construction Office. |