ShareJapan: snow cooling created greater CO2 emissions
An experiment to ship snow from the north of Japan to help reduce the air conditioning load in Tokyo has created CO2 emissions three times greater than the emissions reduction achieved.
An experiment to ship snow from the north of Japan to help reduce the air conditioning load in Tokyo has created CO2 emissions three times greater than the emissions reduction achieved.
Begun in 2012, the experiment involved transporting snow from the frozen northern city of Hokkaido to use in ice storage systems in Tokyo to reduce the air conditioning cooling load on buildings.
According to Japanese newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun, the Japanese Environment Ministry believed the system would be able to cut CO2 emissions from air conditioning by 30%.
A snow air conditioning system was used at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo for a month in September 2012, between 1 pm and 4 pm. The snow used for the system was brought all the way from Hokkaido, which is about 1,230 km from Tokyo, almost daily. It took about 1½ days for trucks and trains to carry about four tons of snow.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, ministry figures reveal that transporting the snow such a long distance produced about 120kg of CO2 emissions, while the amount of emissions cut by the snow air conditioner was only about 40kg per day.
The Environment Ministry has since shifted the source of snow to Kai, Yamanashi Prefecture, which is about 190km from Tokyo. The results of that trial have not yet been released.
Japan is just one of a number of countries including Sweden, Canada and Russia with access to abundant supplies of snow looking to tap into its environmental cooling benefits.
Begun in 2012, the experiment involved transporting snow from the frozen northern city of Hokkaido to use in ice storage systems in Tokyo to reduce the air conditioning cooling load on buildings.
According to Japanese newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun, the Japanese Environment Ministry believed the system would be able to cut CO2 emissions from air conditioning by 30%.
A snow air conditioning system was used at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo for a month in September 2012, between 1 pm and 4 pm. The snow used for the system was brought all the way from Hokkaido, which is about 1,230 km from Tokyo, almost daily. It took about 1½ days for trucks and trains to carry about four tons of snow.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, ministry figures reveal that transporting the snow such a long distance produced about 120kg of CO2 emissions, while the amount of emissions cut by the snow air conditioner was only about 40kg per day.
The Environment Ministry has since shifted the source of snow to Kai, Yamanashi Prefecture, which is about 190km from Tokyo. The results of that trial have not yet been released.
Japan is just one of a number of countries including Sweden, Canada and Russia with access to abundant supplies of snow looking to tap into its environmental cooling benefits.