EarthNews

Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies Set Sustainable Energy Zone

By KenOct 12th, 2009

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ACEEE Map of State Energy Efficiency Scorecard Results

According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) survey (2008), California topped the list of US states in energy efficiency policy. With Oregon taking second place, and Washington coming in at number six, all three west coast states made the top 10.

Evaluation criteria include whether energy consumption is being kept in check, whether electricity demand is being met, whether measures against global warming are in place, and whether contribution to the energy security of the US is being made, amongst other things. A ‘US City Sustainability Ranking’ was also conducted by a ‘SustainLane’, a US portal site with around 100,000 members that serves as a guide to sustainable living. According to this research, the 2008 ranking put Portland (Oregon) in first, San Fransisco (California) second, and Seattle (Washington) third – the top three places all going to west coast cities as in the last survey in 2006.

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SustainLane US City Ranking homepage

The city ranking criteria is based on 15 areas including urban planning, air and water quality, use of public transport, availability of housing, climate change and energy policy, and local agriculture. With two different surveys with different criteria both showing the west coast at the top of the list, it’s safe to say the west coast leads the US in terms of environmental sustainability.

So, what about Japan?

As previously covered by greenz, Brand Research Institute, Inc. has released an ‘Environmental Action Prefecture Ranking’.

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Brand Research Institute Environmental Action Prefecture Ranking

According to this ranking, Nagano takes first place, with Kyoto and Tokyo in second and third respectively, leading one blogger to comment that the criteria are favorable to urban areas. For example Kochi, which has the dishonor of coming in last, is actually a major producer of many agricultural products such as Chinese chives, ginger, eggplant, capsicum, and shishito. However, this relationship with nature seems to be missing from the evaluation criteria.

The Chiba University Research Center on Public Affairs for Sustainable Welfare Society along with the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies have set up a sustainable energy zone research group to run ‘Sustainable Energy Zones’. Here natural energy supply for 2007 has been surveyed in the Prefectural Ranking.

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Sustainable Energy independence (2007)

According to this, Oita comes in first with a natural energy independence rate of 31.4%, with Akita and Toyama following in second and third with 18.3% and 17.7% respectively. Looking down the list, Nagano, which topped the other ranking comes in at 29th place with 2.9% independence. Kyoto, second place in the other ranking is 41st here, with 1.0%, and Tokyo stands out at the bottom of the list with a natural energy independence rate of just 0.2%, highlighting the difference between the two surveys.

In addition, the Japan Research Institute conducts an Environmentally Friendly Municipality Ranking, and a group of 11 environmental NGOs have ranked municipalities on their environmental policies in the ‘Eco Capital Contest’. With the latest survey results from 2003 and 2006 respectively, the data is a little old, but the former has Mie in the top spot, with Tokyo and Shiga in second and third respectively, and the latter with Kitakyushu (Fukuoka) first, followed by Minamata (Kumamoto) and Shinshiro (Aichi) in second and third. Once again, there is little connection between the surveys.

This disparity in results may be simply because there is no single municipality that stands out in terms of environmental friendliness. However, it also leaves us hoping for not only a wider spread of environmental policies, but also better indicators to rate environmental friendliness.


This article is translated from the original Japanese post

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