In line with the world fair's main theme of environment conservation, the plant operator New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), an independent administrative body, offers a "Future Energy Exploration Tour" of the plant five times a day to heighten visitors' understanding of future energy sources.
"In 2100, two-thirds of the total power output is predicted to originate from solar power generation. These new energy sources including fuel cells will also greatly cut carbon dioxide emissions," a NEDO official explained at the tour.
The plant featuring a solar power generation system and three types of fuel cells supplies electricity to the Japanese government pavilion and the NEDO pavilion at the main Nagakute expo site, fully covering their power consumption. By using alternatives to fossil fuels the new energy plant can reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 820 tons per year, in comparison with thermal power generation facilities, according to NEDO.
Fuel cells generate electricity
through the chemical reaction of oxygen in the air and hydrogen
extracted from resources such as natural gas, emitting water as the only
byproduct, and are thus basically pollution-free.
But the high cost of introducing such a
system remains a steep hurdle. One of the three fuel cell types used at
the expo's experimental energy plant has already been sold to facilities
such as hospitals and factories, but buyers have to shoulder up to 1
million yen per 1 kw of generated power, a NEDO official said.
To coincide with the experiment at the expo, a unique housing project has been organized by the city of Nagoya near the fair's site. Under the project, several households -- picked by lottery --experience living in environment-friendly apartments powered by new energy sources for two weeks until September, when the expo ends.
The 2,000 square meter housing complex in Nagoya's Moriyama Ward has been equipped with various cutting-edge energy technologies by four companies -- Toho Gas Co., tile maker Inax Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and Chubu Electric Power Co.
Kentaro Imagawa, 36, who has been living in an apartment fitted with a gas cogeneration system that generates electricity and heat at the same time, said, "The room has a monitoring panel to show the CO2 density, temperature and estimated utility fees. I've learned a lot about energy consumption."
Imagawa, a civil engineer from central Nagoya, and his wife and two children were among the first group of households to live in the apartment under the project. "I think the living experience here will be useful in the future, when we build our own house," he said.
A 66-year-old woman from Nagoya who moved into an apartment where electricity replaces gas as the energy source for a boiler, cooking stove and heater, said, "I appreciate it because we do not have to worry about fires and ventilation."
The woman was sharing the living experience with her husband and said her awareness of new energy forms such as fuel cells and solar power had been heightened during the stay. " I had not cared about these things," she said.
The energy system for her apartment can save up to 60 percent of the energy used in apartments powered by conventional energy sources, a Nagoya city official said.
Electricity for an outdoor light at the housing complex is supplied by solar and wind power generators, while solar panels have been set up both vertically and horizontally on one of the roofs.
One of the apartments features a fuel cell system that generates electricity and heat simultaneously. Under the system, electricity is produced through the chemical reaction of hydrogen taken from gas and oxygen from the air, which in turn also generates heat.
The city, which built the housing complex for 210 million yen, plans to remodel the seven apartments and rent them out after the project is finished.