Dialogue
Resolving Social Issues of the Local Community
- Efforts on Invigorating the Local Community and Protecting the Environment
- Facilitator:
We are now here at Maniwa City, a place with magnificent nature and tranquil landscapes. Since ancient times, people of Maniwa City in Okayama Prefecture have been coexisting with the bountiful forests and nature. In 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 invite 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 invigoration 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 Jinjo Elementary School" that was constructed in late Meiji is indeed a remarkable historical building.
- Ota:
Thank you. I believe it is the 111th anniversary this year. No major renovation works were carried out since the school opened, so the structure remains 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 Industrial City"
- Ota:
Maniwa City was born 14 years ago following the merger of nine towns and villages. It has an area of about 828km2 with 80% of it occupied by mountains. It has a long shape that stretches from north to south across a distance of about 50km. Each region within the city has its unique characteristics. For example, while there is hardly any snow at the southern end, you can find ski areas in the north, and some call it a "multi-faceted Maniwa." Here, the timber industry is thriving and the mountains are relatively well-maintained. That said, it will not be viable for the local economy to rely solely on the primary industry, which is why we are also actively attracting the development of industrial estates, for example. Currently, there are many small-sized but leading companies that are based in 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 in Japan and 40% in the entire world.
Although the population is declining as with all other rural areas in 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 industry of Maniwa City is now focusing on CLT, a new type of timber. Can you tell us more about CLT?
- Ota:
CLT is the abbreviation for Cross Laminated Timber. It is made by overlapping and gluing 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 in weight, thus helping to minimize the scale of the foundation works and shorten the construction period. Also, as the plates are made of wood, CLT is an appealing option that emits a much smaller amount of CO2 at the manufacturing stage compared to concrete.
It is also possible for CLT to achieve the same strength as concrete. Its use has been approved by the Building Standards Act, so I believe it will become more commonly used in future.
- Facilitator:
Maniwa City is also widely known to be one of the few best practice examples in Japan in the "biomass business."
- Ota:
There are about 30 timber mills in Maniwa City, and a large quantity of mill ends are produced from the manufacturing process. I was told that out of 200,000m3 of timber used for manufacturing, 60% is made into products, while the other 40% is mill ends, which means industrial waste. Also, large amounts of scrap wood are generated from sources other than the manufacturing of construction materials, such as smaller trees and the root and bark of trees that are left lying around when thinning is carried out in the mountain forests, and branches and leaves that are pruned from trees in households with a large garden. These can be converted into more than 100,000 tons of chips, which are then used as fuel for generating electric power.
The power generation capacity now is about 10,000kW, which is produced using local timber as fuel. This is a joint venture by the City, third sector and private sector and is into the fourth year of its operation. The sales revenue of chips has been growing every year and reached about 1.3 billion yen. In the past, scrap wood was seen as having no economic value and treated as industrial waste which would incur disposal costs. Now, it has become a source of income for supporting the local economy. Not only so, it has also contributed to the beautification of the mountains, which in turn will produce trees of superior quality, or in other words, reduction in CO2 emission. As you can see, it has all the advantages.
If we convert 10,000 kW into 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 producing energy locally for local consumption. At the same time, this is an environment-friendly approach that contributes significantly to the invigoration of the local economy, including employment.
- Nishitani:
I heard there are some businesses out there that import fuel from overseas for biomass power generation. Maniwa City makes use of scrap wood generated from the timber manufacturing and woodworking processes within the city and converts them into electricity, so I see it as a successful case of local production for local consumption.
This situation in 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:
In 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 increase the share of natural renewable energy to 100% in future through such continuous efforts.
Environment Management by NTT West Group
- Hara:
NTT West Group has established a "Charter for Global Environment" and has been engaging in 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 in 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 putting in efforts to conserve energy.
For electric power, we have set a target to reduce overall electric power consumption by 20% since FY 2010, and we expect to hit this target by FY 2020. For wastes, we introduced a "zero emission" initiative to keep the final disposal rate at 1% or lower, and we have been clearing this target for five consecutive years since 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 in FY 2016. We are now engaging in efforts to digitize our work so as to reduce paper use further.
- Ota:
I also see a shift towards "paperless" receipts and bills.
- Nishitani:
Introduction of ICT is also underway within NTT Group, and many of the in-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 in volunteer activities that help to conserve biodiversity. We have about 10,000 participants in the 30 prefectures of Western Japan who are taking part in these activities.
- Nishitani:
As part of the biodiversity conservation efforts, Okayama Branch conducts a yearly cleanup activity at the breeding ground for horseshoe crabs in Kasaoka. At the same time, we also take part actively in other environmental conservation and local activities within the prefecture, such as the Asahi River cleanup activity held every August.
- Facilitator:
By horseshoe crabs, are you referring to those we see at that aquarium?
- Nishitani:
I am referring to horseshoe crabs that are also called "living fossils." There is a beach in Kasaoka that is said to be a breeding ground where you can find wild horseshoe crabs.
- Ota:
I heard that the population of horseshoe crabs is gradually growing recently. There used to be a large number of horseshoe crabs in the past because of the shallow beaches along the coastline of Okayama Prefecture. However, due to land reclamation, their habitats have been decreasing. One example would be the Mizushima Coastal Industrial 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 recovering in recent years. This is the result of everyone's efforts.
