Japanese Households Continue Saving Energy in FY2005

An estimated 31.8 liters of energy (crude oil equivalent) per household was saved in fiscal 2005, according to an annual survey by the Energy Conservation Center, Japan (ECCJ). Using this figure, the ECCJ calculated the total amount saved in the household sector, which consists of 47 million households (census data for fiscal 2000). It estimated that about 1.49 million kiloliters of energy was saved by the household sector in fiscal 2005, equivalent to a reduction of about 2.54 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions. This amount of energy is nearly equal to the annual consumption of all 1.15 million households in Osaka City.

The latest survey was conducted by sending out questionnaires in mid January 2006 and collecting them via the Internet in late February. The respondents received were as follows: 2,018 (23.4 percent) in the household sector; 2,087 (59.6 percent) in the industrial sector; and 966 (38.6 percent) in the commercial sector, which includes office buildings. The survey results have been available (in Japanese) on the ECCJ website since May 12, 2006.

Although the total amount saved in the household sector in fiscal 2005 was almost the same as that in the previous year, energy saving efforts related to driving and home heating were clearly on the rise. For example, 82.5 percent of respondents stopped unnecessary car engine idling (up 14.6 points from the previous year); 90.1 percent avoided rapid starts and acceleration when driving (up 10.7 points); 48.0 percent heated the room temperature to only 20 degrees Celsius or lower (up 10.1 points). A rise in energy conservation awareness can be seen from the fact that the increased number of households turned the heating down despite the very cold winter of 2005-2006.

http://www.eccj.or.jp/index_e.html

Posted: 2006/10/04 09:44:13 PM
Japanese version