Green Power Certifications Launched in Kyoto

Green Power Certifications Launched in Kyoto

April 2008 - The city of Kyoto, famous as the place 
where the world's first climate change treaty requiring greenhouse gas 
reductions was agreed, has developed a way to reduce its own greenhouse 
gases. 
The Miyako Agenda21 Forum, an environmental partnership organization 
established by Kyoto City in collaboration with its citizens, businesses 
and surrounding local municipalities, has launched the Miyako Green Power 
Certification System. 
The system aims to promote "local production for local consumption" of 
solar power as a way of helping curb global warming. 
According to the organization, the first project certified under the 
system will be the Kyoto Hanatoro, illumination and flower sight-seeing 
events that are to be held annually at Arashiyama Area in December and 
Higashiyama Area in March. 
The Forum sells Certificates of Green Power at 10 yen (about 9 US cents) 
per kilowatt hour to events held by businesses, associations and municipal 
governments in the Kyoto City area, and trades them for environmental 
values such as carbon dioxide reduction. 

The Forum also authorizes the use of their logo to businesses. 
Companies holding the certificates have to bear some additional costs but 
can publicize themselves as environmentally friendly and improve their 
corporate images. 
Proceeds from sales of the certificates will go to the existing Sunshine 
Fund for promoting power plant installations that convert sunlight 
directly into electricity through arrays of solar photovoltaic, PV, cells. 

The Kyoto Green Fund, a nonprofit organization that installs PV power 
plants at local nursery schools and kindergartens to introduce 
environmental education has been installing Sunshine PV power plants since 
March 2001. 
The tenth PV power plant, at Myorin-en Nursery School in Kyoto, began 
operation in May 2007. The capacity of the plant is 10 kilowatts, and its 
annual production is projected to be 10,000 kilowatt-hours - about 
one-eighth of the annual electricity consumption of the school. 
At Omiya Nursery School in Kyoto the Sunshine PV plant can supply the 
nursery school with two-thirds of its annual electricity consumption. 
The Kyoto Green Fund philosophy is that environmental consciousness is 
best developed not through book knowledge, but in daily life during early 
childhood. 
Changed behavior among the children has been reported at the nursery 
schools and kindergartens that have these PV systems. Some children now 
turn off the lights, saying, "It's a waste to leave the light on." 
The Sunshine Fund has been supporting installation of the PV systems with 
monthly donations from the organization's members, donations from 
supporters of each PV power plant installation project, and donations from 
boxes placed in business offices or private homes and collected by 
fund-raisers. 
In addition, the organization receives subsidies from the New Energy and 
Industrial Technology Development Organization and support from private 
entities, such as Lions Clubs, to promote PV power plant installation.

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