On Thursday, July 1, 2010, I was given the opportunity to go with Professor Hanaki to the 2010 Renewable Energy Conference in Yokohama, Japan. First, I listened to a couple of sessions on biofuels.
Then, I was able to listen about the sustainability programs in Australia National University (ANU is located in Canberra), ETH Zurich (located in Switzerland), Tongji University (located in Shanghai, China), and, of course, the University of Tokyo (UT aka Todai). It was a special workshop with a speaker panel following the short presentations about campus sustainability (what is about, what each university has to offer, what each university priorities, the philosophy behind each university).
Thanks to this man who organized the whole conference in addition to organizing this special workshop on campus sustainability.
Here are some quick notes about the universities:
Thanks to this man who organized the whole conference in addition to organizing this special workshop on campus sustainability.ETH Zurich: Focused on the campus called "Science City," introduced how design (design of buildings, design of areas..etc) makes a difference in bringing together people to create sustainable campus community
Tongji University: Talked about how they can monitor the energy consumption of over 300 campus buildings with up-to-date metering by the hour. They plan to expand this system over multiple (quite a few actually) campuses across China. Administrators just log on to the website and then they can see where energy is being consumed and how much is being consumed.
Australia National University: Talked about taking in sustainability with a holistic view, they also have paid student internships to ensure the turnover of students and student projects are less of an issue
University of Tokyo: the University of Tokyo owns forested area in northern Japan which is estimated to store up to half of Todai's carbon emissions yearly.
Can you imagine? They spent half a year working on installing the system that monitors the energy consumption of over 300 buildings. All analysis, graphs, and data can be collected and viewed online (via special username and password). 
Speaker Panel. Left to right: ANU, University of Tokyo, ANU, ETH Zurich, Tongji University
What a coincidence! From left to right: Joana Portugal from Portugal & University of Tokyo, Joanna Young from UC Berkeley, Joanne Dy from University of Tokyo 
Goodbye Yokohama!
Wow! So cool Joanna!!! Looks like a really pertinent conference that you attended! And funny about three Joannas! I guess it's a popular name for sustainability ladies. ; ) Speaking of renewables, does Todai have on-site renewable energy generation?
ReplyDeleteHere's a paragraph on Todai's renewable energy: Although there is huge potential in renewable energy, its implementation is currently limited. Some of the main campuses have small-scale wind-power electricity generators that serve as educational and promotional tools while solar power from photovoltaic cells is not feasible because of its high costs despite its large CO2 reducing potential. Additionally, UT owns large forested areas in Hokkaido and other places, which are estimated to have an absorption effect of CO2 equal to more than half of the emissions from the campuses; the forestry biomass is potential source of renewable energy.
ReplyDeletehope this helps.
-joanna