Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
2011, just after the earthquake, the core institution of Tohoku University has held
7 disaster fora to evaluate the conditions of stricken areas and consider recovery
strategies. Furthermore, on November 17, together with Tohoku localities and uni-
versities nationwide, the Tohoku Recovery Clean Energy R&D Symposium was
held addressing next-generation energy and its application (NET
2012
).
Emerging from these fora, Tokyo University suggested the use of wave and
tidal energy in Kuji City, Iwate Prefecture and Shiogama City, Miyagi Prefecture;
a Tsukuba and Tohoku University group put forth proposals for algae biofuels for
Sendai; and furthermore a Tohoku and Tokyo University group created a Biomass
Town concept for Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture and proposals for geothermal
energy in Osaki City, Miyagi Prefecture. Architecture for an indispensable mobil-
ity-capable local energy control system was also laid out in a project that brought
together plans for green energy. This was the start of the Next-generation Energies
for Tohoku Recovery project. This NET project has three main elements.
The first anticipates obtaining renewable ocean energy from Tohoku's abundant
waves and other ocean sources. With the cooperation of Kuji City, this research
project is putting in place an open water trial of wave energy in Kuji Bay, Iwate
Prefecture, using two 40 kW prototypes based on an original design developed
with parts sourced from various makers and fabricated/installed by local enterprises
which have suffered the damaging effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake and
Tsunami. Furthermore, in Matsushima Bay near the Urato Archipelago in Miyagi
Prefecture where the tide is amplified, through cooperation with Shiogama City, an
open water trial of tidal energy is being installed using an original 5 kW prototype
(again assembled from parts sourced from various makers and fabricated/installed
by local enterprises). These are shown in Fig.
7.12
.
It is hoped that the results of this research will be an important first step towards
widespread adoption of renewable ocean power, data generated will facilitate the
valuation of appropriate renewable feed-in tariffs, and with the support of authori-
ties in many more of Tohoku's stricken localities, local generation capability can be
installed, thus unlocking the possibility of energy self-sufficiency.
The second project sees wastewater treatment as a potential source of biomass
energy other than the currently available generation of methane through anaerobic
digestion. In many cases, residual sludge is incinerated as waste, consuming a great
amount of energy in the process. The technology to exploit the oil-yielding het-
erotrophic algae Aurantiochytrium which is capable of using the organic matter in
wastewater, together with the nitrogen/phosphorus nutrient-utilizing Botryococcus
oil-yielding autotrophic algae will be installed at Sendai's Minamigamo wastewater
treatment plant (which sustained massive damage in the tsunami) but has since been
restored (Qi et al.
2014
).
This will allow biofuel production from wastewater and its efficient use to be
developed, with the aim of establishing a technology base which will enable de-
signs for practical full-scale implementation. Thus, instead of consuming energy, a
means of producing energy from wastewater treatment will be found; by utilizing
heterotrophic algae to process organic matter and autotrophic algae to process inor-
ganic matter together, energy efficiency will increase; and new technology may be
