日本ガス協会

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News Letter

Vol.22
JGA Newsletter
Headline
JGA Announces New Board of Directors

At the JGA General Meeting and the Council held on June 13, 2013, Hiroshi Ozaki, President of Osaka Gas, was elected to serve as Chairman of JGA after Mitsunori Torihara. Also, Hiroki Ogawa (Senior Advisor, Saibu Gas Co., Ltd.) was retired as Vice Chairman, while Tsuyoshi Okamoto (President, Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd.) and Yuji Tanaka (Chairman, Saibu Gas Co., Ltd.) were appointed as Vice Chairman. The new Board of Directors is as follows.

Mr. Hiroshi Ozaki,Chairman
Mr. Hiroshi Ozaki,
Chairman
Chairman:
Hiroshi Ozaki (President, Osaka Gas Co., Ltd.)

Vice Chairmen:
Tsuyoshi Okamoto (President, Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd.)
Takashi Saeki (Chairman, Toho Gas Co., Ltd.)
Yuji Tanaka (Chairman, Saibu Gas Co., Ltd.)

Vice Chairman and Senior Managing Director:
Toshiyuki Kanisawa

Managing Directors:
Yoshihiro Tanabe
Hiroyuki Wada



JGA News
Establishment of Ene-Farm Partners

A new organization called "Ene-Farm Partners" was established on May 30, 2013 for the industries and associations such as the housing, fuel cell manufacturing, city gas and LP gas industries related to the Ene-Farm, a residential fuel cell, to cooperate and promote the spread of Ene-Farm to reduce CO2 emissions from households. Members of the organization consist of a total of 78 enterprises and five associations as of August 2013.

Ene-Farm Partners will first respond to the differences among new housing and existing housing, and free-standing homes and multi-family housing, share issues toward a smart response in combination with solar energy and storage batteries, and examine solutions. Next, the organization will hold symposiums and a nationwide campaign to accelerate the spread of Ene-Farm by boosting consumers' recognition and understanding of residential fuel cells. At the same time, a website and other promotional tools will be prepared to support the activities to spread the adoption of Ene-Farm. Additionally, the organization will promote the sharing of information among members by preparing an information network to quickly share the latest information regarding new products and subsidies, etc. Photo and specifications of the first residential-use SOFC cogeneration system, Ene-Farm Type S, are shown below.


Ene-Farm Type S
The goal is to increase the number of Ene-Farm units to 1.4 million in 2020 and 5.3 million in 2030, but there are various issues with its expansion and spread. Measures being planned to resolve those issues include miniaturization, easier installation and an improved maintenance system. Also, as government subsidies will end in 2015, the member associations will have to work together toward cost reductions so that Ene-Farm can spread on its own merits from 2016.

>>> Development status and future prospects for residential and commercial use of SOFC systems

City Gas Symposium 2013

On June 12, 2013, JGA organized the City Gas Symposium 2013 in Tokyo. This symposium has been held each year for the purpose of exchanging information among city gas utilities and related business entities through presentations on such subjects as latest trends in the city gas industry and latest outcomes of the city gas technology developments. This year, the main theme was "Technology Development to Pioneer a New Era in Energy," with the presentation of a wide variety of information on technologies to support the future development of the city gas business.

The symposium had 31 presentations, one workshop ("Strategic Use of Big Data Analysis"), 71 poster presentations, and displays of 16 technology prizes and grand prizes, and was attended by a total of 1,875 participants from city gas utilities and other organizations affiliated with JGA.

Following the keynote address, there were presentations on efforts related to the construction of smart energy networks and on the development of new technologies that will contribute to the development of the city gas business. The talk on smart energy networks began with introductions of the Smart Energy Network Energy Management System (SENEMS), which realizes optimal energy supply and demand, and the Smart House demonstration test conducted in Yokohama as efforts by Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. This was followed by a presentation on demand-response cogeneration and the advanced use project of urban waste heat which occurs with garbage incineration plants, etc. being advanced by Osaka Gas Co., Ltd., and on the Smart Energy House demonstration test being conducted by Toho Gas Co., Ltd. at multi-family dwellings. The presentations on new technology development covered such themes as boosting the efficiency of cogeneration, reducing the costs of Ene-Farm residential fuel cells, developing Ene-Farm to also generate electricity from city gas during electric outages, solar cooling, Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC), and hydrogen stations for fuel-cell vehicles. Links to four papers presented at the symposium are given below.


>>> The Current Status of Tokyo Gas's Smart Energy Network Initiatives

>>> Development status and future prospects for residential and commercial use of SOFC systems

>>> Measures for the development of hydrogen stations for fuel cell vehicles (FCV)

>>> HCCI Engines - Opening Up a New Age in Energy



City Gas Sales in FY2012 (April 1, 2012 - March 31, 2013)

FY 2012 domestic gas sales (by 209 gas utilities nationwide) totaled 36,323 million m3 (41.8605 MJ/m3), up 1.1% from the previous fiscal year. The total sales rose for the third consecutive year to post a new record high again.

By sector:
- Residential sector gas sales rose by 0.1% to 9,798 million m3, and it increased for the third consecutive year. The residential sector sales were nearly flat year-on-year as the average temperature increased by only 0.1 ℃.

- Commercial sector gas sales rose by 0.4% to 4,499 million m3 and miscellaneous sector gas sales (hospitals, public facilities, etc.) rose by 1.0% to 2,998 million m3. Sales were also nearly flat year-on-year because the average temperature remained near the previous year's level. (Commercial sector and miscellaneous sector sales increased for the first time in two years.)

- Industrial sector gas sales rose by 1.9% to 19,026 million m3. The sales increased with higher operating rates at customer facilities and efforts of developing demand. (Industrial sector sales rose for the third consecutive year.)


By region:
- The changes in annual gas sales from the previous fiscal year by region were as follows: +7.0% in Hokkaido, +11.8% in Tohoku, +2.6% in Kanto-Koshinetsu, +0.2% in Chubu-Hokuriku, -2.1% in Kinki, +0.6% in Chugoku, +3.8% in Shikoku, and -0.7% in Kyushu-Okinawa.

Information:
>>> Gas Facts in Japan 2012


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The Japan Gas Association
1-15-12, Toranomon, Minato-ku,
Tokyo 105-0001, Japan
Tel: 81-3-3502-0116; Fax: 81-3-3502-0013
URL:http://www.gas.or.jp/en/
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