Local News

In an effort to reduce CO2 emissions from households, the seven prefectures of Kyushu will adopt a carbon mileage program in which consumers can redeem points received from reducing their electricity consumption and purchasing energy efficient appliances for shopping vouchers. The prefectures plan to implement the program by 2020 and hope to recruit 15,000 households initially. According to Oita Prefecture, the administrator of this initiative, this would be the first time in Japan that a regional block of prefectures adopted this kind of scheme. Each prefecture plans to recruit 1,500 households into the program. They will monitor power consumption for a total of six months during the high-use summer and winter months and award points based on the year-on-year decreases. Households that install energy-efficient air conditioners, solar panels and the like will also be awarded points as will those that volunteer for forest maintenance projects. Points will be accumulated on a special card and can be redeemed for shopping vouchers from participating companies, converted to points on public transit smart cards or exchanged for local delicacies from each prefecture. The system was proposed by the Kyushu Governors’ Association and Keidanren and is coordinated by a consortium composed of the seven prefectures and several major companies, including Kyushu Electric Power, Saibu Gas, JR Kyushu and Nishi-Nippon Railroad. Each prefecture plans to allocate ￥3.07 million in their budgets for fiscal 2013 to fund the consortium. Source: Nishinippon Shimbun, Feb. 14