Inventor promotes low-power lifestyle with electricity-free appliances

[kristopher]

Inventor promotes low-power lifestyle with electricity-free appliances


Yasuyuki Fujimura sits next to a dehumidifier he invented at his studio in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, on May 2. (Mainichi)


NASU, Tochigi -- An inventor here is promoting a change in lifestyle for Japan with appliances that do not use power, from refrigerators to dehumidifiers.

Yasuyuki Fujimura, 67, graduated from Osaka University with a doctorate in engineering and worked as an engineer at construction machine maker Komatsu before setting up his studio at his home in 2007. He has invented over 10 types of appliances, which he even offers to other countries such as Mongolia.

A refrigerator made of highly conductive metal, surrounded with water and insulated can keep a temperature of seven to eight degrees Celsius even outside in the daytime during summer. A dehumidifier he created with a nearly endless lifetime that sells for 23,000 yen is a hit product that sells around 200 units a year.

When Fujimura gives lectures, he brings up his self-made unit "GP." One GP is the average yearly power provided by a single nuclear reactor, around 5 billion kilowatt hours. According to Fujimura, all the televisions in Japan come out to 10 GPs, or 10 nuclear reactors' worth of power usage a year. All the heated water servers take 3 GPs in order to maintain the temperature of the water inside, making them the same as air coolers.

At his studio...

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/features/news/20120508p2a00m0na009000c.html

[Smilo]

1. Incredible

good for him - this would be wonderful if others took this up.

I heard on the radio yesterday that with Japan taking their reactors off line they are going to lose their status with regard to production. I wonder how that will affect their motorcycle and car industries?

[kristopher]

2. Lose their status?

I don't think so. In fact, while their version of the Chamber of Commerce is dead set against restarting the nuclear reactors, surveys of industry directly shows strong support for a go very slow approach.

[FBaggins]

3. Yes. To the extent "lose their status" means "serious economic harm"

What Smilio likely heard was a report from their economic ministry predicting a 5% GDP decline and doubled electrical rates over the coming years.

surveys of industry directly shows strong support for a go very slow approach.

That's nice (true or not)... but how is that relevant to the question? Whether the decision is popular or unpopular is entirely divorced from the undeniable fact that it's a costly one. Of course significant power shortages will have an impact on production and the dramatic climb in fossil generation will be costly (in more ways than one).

[kristopher]

4. Well, if you want to focus on the total economic costs of a major nuclear disaster,

... I suppose you are right that the follow on economic costs should be tabulated carefully in order that they be properly debited against the value of nuclear power generation to society.

However that isn't really what Smilio's point is - the industries involved are not going to lose their market status.

Poor Baggins, the nuclear industry's knight in shining armor, always so eager to defend the honor of the fair glowing maiden in distress.

[FBaggins]

5. Think anyone missed the weak attempt to deflect?

This wasn't a calculation of the cost of a nuclear disaster, nor was it a measure of the larger impact of a natural disaster that caused the nuclear disaster... it was a measure of the cost of electing to turn off an existing and undamaged source of power generation.

Japan isn't facing severe power shortages because of Fukushima. They're facing them because Fukushima-inspired paranoia has inspired an otherwise rational people to lose their grip on reality.

[kristopher]

6. The reasoning of the nuclear industry is nothing short of bizarre

It perfectly matches that of the fossil fuel industry. They also feel that turning off the "existing and undamaged source(s) of power generation" provided by their industry is irrational paranoia. Similar to you they believe that they should be the only arbiters of what society writ large should deem risky.

[FBaggins]

7. More avoidance?

I'm sure that somebody somewhere falls for it.

The "reasoning" has not a thing to do with nuclear or fossil industry spin. It has not a thing to do with what you or I would prefer Japan's energy choices to be now or in the future.

It's a simple statement of fact. Unless they get incredibly lucky weather from M. Nature... they don't have enough power. That will have an impact on their GDP. The government is reaching out now to let regional governments and businesses know in advance that many of them need to get ready for significant sacrifice and there have been lots of reports of manufacturers planning to shift production overseas (though certainly the strong Yen is encouraging that move as well). The ones that aren't are installing large backup generators (Hey! You love a distributed grid, right???).

Their trade deficit has been hitting records (after decades of surpluses)... you do know that dents GDP too, right?

[kristopher]

8. Yes,by you. All of that can be laid at the feet of multiple meltdowns of nuclear reactors.

All of it. Your reasoning perfectly matches that of the fossil fuel industry. They also feel that turning off the "existing and undamaged source(s) of power generation" provided by their industry is irrational paranoia. Similar to you they believe that they should be the only arbiters of what society writ large should deem risky. Just like you they do not want to take responsibility for the cascade of economic consequences that result from failures of their technology. And just like the fossil fuel industry, the nuclear industry is motivated to their position on risk purely through selfish profit motives.

[FBaggins]

9. Nonsense. Try reading the thread.

The statement was:

I heard on the radio yesterday that with Japan taking their reactors off line they are going to lose their status with regard to production. I wonder how that will affect their motorcycle and car industries?

You said you didn't think so. The correct answer was yes. Taking their reactors offline is harming their GDP and will get worse as power demands grow for the summer.

[kristopher]

12. They are not going to lose their car and motorcycle industries Baggins.

Nor their electronics industries. You went from that into the area of trade deficits and GDP, trying to craft an inept apologia based on the theme of irrational fear to yet again shift the responsibility from the disaster caused by the massive failure of "safe" nuclear technology to the victims of that massive failure.

It is a particularly repugnant strategy FB.


ETA:

Surplus in '11 logged biggest fall on record
Kyodo
Friday, May 11, 2012
Japan's current account surplus logged the sharpest fall on record in fiscal 2011, as slower exports, growing imports, the strong yen and higher prices for crude oil and other commodities conspired against it, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.

The balance of payments, the widest gauge of a country's international trade, totaled ¥7.89 trillion for the year that ended March 31, a 52.6 percent plunge from the previous year — the largest fall since comparable data became available in fiscal 1985.

The total surplus was also the lowest seen in 15 years, but would have been even worse if not for increased income from companies' portfolio and foreign direct investment, the ministry said in a preliminary report.

Exports dropped 2.8 percent to ¥62.63 trillion, the first decline in two years, while imports surged 14.0 percent to ¥66.08 trillion, marking the second straight year of growth. The balance of trade in goods clocked a deficit of ¥3.45 trillion, the largest since data began to be compiled in fiscal 1972....

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nb20120511a1.html

[FBaggins]

13. I swear... if you ever run out of straw you won't be able to post.

Who ever said they were?



You went from that into the area of trade deficits and GDP

You do understand what GDP is, right?



On edit - If you need any help understanding that trade information that you added late... just let me know. You seem to mistakenly think that it helps your position.

[NickB79]

10. NPR is reporting they're spending $100 million per DAY importing natural gas

To replace the electricity lost from shuttered nuclear reactors: http://www.npr.org/2012/03/11/148136383/nuclear-woes-push-japan-into-a-new-energy-future?ft=1&f=134454848

Yeah, that might have an economic impact....

[OnlinePoker]

15. From the article

The $100 million includes Natural Gas, Coal, and Oil. As a result, CO2 emissions for the year will increase by 184 million tons (from 2009 levels) vice an increase of 11 million tons if the nukes were restarted.

[kristopher]

16. Of course there is an increase in CO2 emissions.

They damned near destroyed the fabric of their culture. What do you expect them to do after finding out they'd been sold a bill of goods by an industry that promised this type of thing would never happen?


ETA:
Nuclear crisis turns Japan ex-PM Kan into energy apostle
TOKYO - Nearly a year after Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster, then-premier Naoto Kan is haunted by the specter of an even bigger crisis forcing tens of millions of people to flee Tokyo and threatening the nation's existence.

"Having experienced the 3/11 nuclear disaster, I changed my way of thinking. The biggest factor was how at one point, we faced a situation where there was a chance that people might not be able to live in the capital zone including Tokyo and would have to evacuate," Kan told Reuters in an interview on Friday.

"If things had reached that level, not only would the public have had to face hardships but Japan's very existence would have been in peril."

That convinced Kan, in office for less than a year when the March 11 triple disaster struck, to declare the need for Japan to end its reliance on atomic power and promote renewable sources of energy such solar that have long taken a back seat in the resource- poor country's energy mix.

"While many technological measures can be taken to secure safety at nuclear power plants, such measures on their own cannot cover great risks," said Kan...

Nuclear crisis turns Japan ex-PM Kan into energy apostle - CNBC 2/17/12 6:30 PM

[NickB79]

11. I'd love to be able to buy some of his devices here in the US

They sound ideal for off-the-grid and emergency prep living.

[kristopher]

14. They do sound intriguing

If I find out more about them I'll post it. You can order things from Japan fairly easily, but small purchases generally incur a bank fee for money handling that ends up being a disproportionate percentage of the cost.

[caraher]

17. Could we talk about this guy's inventions?

The brief article doesn't go into much detail and I wonder how the emissions, etc. associated with running these non-electric devices compare to their electric counterparts.

There's a nice piece on his work in The Guardian. Anybody know more about Fujimura's work? I'd like to look into this more deeply...

[kristopher]

18. here is his company catalog

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hidenka.net%2Fjtop.htm

Original here: http://www.hidenka.net/jtop.htm

'There is also an english page, but it hasn't been updated in 6 years,

There is nothing truly groundbreaking but the designs look innovative and practical for some rural applications in Japan. I'm interested in building something like this - I'd already been planning it before seeing his sketch.

http://www.hidenka.net/furo/structure.htm