Environmentally Sensitive Productivity Measurements: An Empirical Analysis for the Case of 81 Manufacturing Firms in Japan (original) (raw)
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2018
The purpose of this study was to explore the possibilities of ECERS (Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale) and SSTEW (Sustained Shared Thinking Emotional Well-being) between countries through defining the common characteristics of the Asia-Pacific region. Recently, discussions on the process quality in the quality of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) have been increasing. At the same time, rating scales for process quality have been developed and become popularized. This study focused on ECERS-3 and SSTEW. In our previous study, we defined the common characteristics of the Asia-Pacific region through analyzing “Innovative Pedagogical Approaches in Early Childhood Care and Education” (UNESCO, 2015). That research led to considering the possibility of using ECERS-3 and SSTEW. There are two main findings. First, it has been used as evaluation tools prior to now, but this study identified the characteristics of ECEC across the Asia-Pacific region. Second, we suggested a new ...
Analyses and Perspectives of Municipal Solid Waste Management in Tokyo
Journal of Geography (Chigaku Zasshi), 2014
Waste is an unavoidable problem when discussing an urban space. To understand the urban space of Tokyo, it is important to understand how Tokyo has addressed the waste problem. This paper examines actual conditions and future prospects for the managing Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) , dividing Tokyo into the special wards area and the Tama area. In the special wards area, the Tokyo metropolitan government constructed waste incineration facilities based on the district self-sufficiency principle (disposing of your own waste in your own ward) , which were established by the so-colled Tokyo garbage war in the 1970s. However, management of MSW in the Tokyo special wards area changed greatly after responsibility for MSW shifted to the wards in 2000. First, the district self-sufficiency principle was abandoned. Second, differences in separating and recycling waste among wards occurred. Third, plastic waste was incinerated. In the future, at the waste collection stage, the door-to-door method is expected to spread among wards. Moreover, at the incineration disposal stage, although the district self-sufficiency principle was abandoned, fairness is expected to be maintained among the wards using economic instruments and considerations to ensure a regional balance. It seems that the final disposal sites will be able to take in waste for the next few decades by reducing waste generation, and carrying out ash melting and plastic incineration. In the Tama area, municipalities established waste management systems that aimed to dispose of waste appropriately against the background of urbanization in the 1960s. Solid waste from dustboxes was incinerated in communal incinerators. Incinerated ash was filled in the final disposal site in Hinode town. However, municipalities were compelled to shift to a form of management that reduces waste as remaining final disposal sites were decreased significantly, and problems concerning sites with neighboring residents occurred in the 1990s. Therefore, some local municipalities such as Hino city in the Tama region made changes to their waste management systems, and succeeded in reducing waste for disposal. According to the results of a questionnaire given to residents of Hino city, the biggest factors of waste reduction were introducing a charge for waste collection and a door-to-door collection system. In the future, the management aimed at reducing waste will be maintained in the Tama region. In addition, the reduction of remaining final disposal sites has been slowed down by changing waste management and operating eco-cement facilities.
Analyses of Exergy and Environmental Impact on Bio-H2 Production System Using 2-step PSA
Journal of the Japan Institute of Energy, 2018
2-step PSA 導入した Bio-H 2 製造プロセスに対するエクセルギー解析及び環境影響評価 近藤頌大 † ，永石 平，堂脇清志 In recent years, technological development of fuel cells has progressed, and hydrogen demand for the fuel is expanding. However, since fossil fuel is mainly used as the energy source for hydrogen, from the viewpoint of life cycle assessment (LCA), even if hydrogen is used as energy, it contributes to the emission of greenhouse gases. Therefore, we have been developing biomass-derived hydrogen (Bio-H 2) production process. It was deemed that the hydrogen purification process (PSA; pressure swing adsorption) had the most environmental impact. as a solution to that, we developed a 2-step PSA. However, the effective use of energy and the environmental impact in the Bio-H 2 production process that introduced 2-step PSA have not been conducted. Therefore, in order to verify the effective use of energy and the environmental impact of the process, we designed Bio-H 2 production process using 2-step PSA based on gasification and purification experimental data, and evaluate the effectiveness of energy use of the process using the exergy analysis. In addition, we assessed the environmental impact of the process using LCA analysis. As a result, it was shown that the exergy efficiency of the 2-step PSA case could be improved by 1.7 points over that of the conventional PSA case. Furthermore, compared to the conventional PSA case, LCA analysis resolved that consumption of fossil fuel would be reduced in the case of 2-step PSA case, and the effect of global warming be greatly reduced. By using the evaluation method integrating the exergy analysis and the environmental impact assessment, which was newly proposed in this paper, we believe that it should contribute to promoting technology development of energy conversion process derived from renewable energy.