Lesson in transportation from Japan
We saw two areas where the Japanese save energy in their transportation systems.
Electric trains.
The first is their high speed and efficient rail system. We toured one of their railroad maintenance facilities where we learned how they have converted their train motors to AC induction motors that provide regenerative breaking. This is the same system that hybrid and electric cars use where breaking produces electricity which in the case of these trains is simply returned to the power grid. The result of using these motors is that it only costs 1.6 K kw-hr to move a train car 1 km. That is equivalent to roughly $0.26 per mile. Compare this to the $0.50/ mile (diesel @ $3.00 and 6 miles per gallon) of our system where we use large 18 wheelers to move most of our goods. The other advantage of their system is reduced use of oil, reduced air pollution, safer roads, and reduced road maintenance.
The Japanese high speed train system (Shinkansen) is also very effective for moving people compared to our greater use of cars and airplanes. These trains are very comfortable, not subject to delays, and offer more schedule alternatives than airlines. In Japan the trains are the preferred mode of travel for short and intermediate distance travel. Use of these trains by travelers offers the same environmental benefits compared to the use of cars and airplanes in our country.
Small cars.
To encourage the use of small energy efficient cars, the Japanese government has a greatly reduced annual registration fee for vehicles that have a engine with a displacement of 1000 cc or less. These vehicles can be easily identified by their yellow license plates. These vehicles come a wide variety of configurations including sedans, delivery vans, and small trucks, They are widely used in the city for things like dropping the kids off at school, shopping trips, running errands, etc and in the farming areas for general use. We didn’t see these cars on the express ways so they may be excluded from the major roads. We saw many of these vehicles and estimate that they represent roughly 50% of all the vehicles. The reduced oil consumption and reduced air pollution resulting from the use of these small cars is significant.
by Doyle Tinkey
