日本人省电省下14个核反应堆

    上周一，日本关停了最后一个核电站。它意味着曾经在日本能源供应体系中占据重要地位的50个核电站已经全部停止运营。尽管经历了有史以来最热的夏天之一，但日本今年并没有限电，也没有停电。他们是如何做到这一点的？简单地说，日本人削减了电力消费。

    能源保护主义者凯文•迈耶森说：“日本的核反应堆已经基本上被灾难后的能源使用效率增益所取代，用电效率的改善促使能源消耗减少了15-20%。比如，在日本各地的写字楼中，新开发的低功率LED灯已经取代了能源消耗巨大的照明设备，写字楼的用电量骤减了40%。”迈耶森是一位退休的美国商人，现居于日本。

    就目前而言，诸如此类的能源节约已经让日本脆弱的核电厂成为累赘。根据政府提供的数据，日本全国的能源需求已减少了10%，从而根除了大约14个核反应堆存在的必要性。

    在这波能源节约浪潮中，打头阵的是类似小松公司(Komatsu)这样的大企业。这家世界第二大建筑设备制造商承诺，至2015年，它至少将削减一半的能源消耗。致力于节省能耗的不止小松公司。福岛核泄漏灾难之后，公共和私人部门的节约努力在很大程度上遏制了电力需求。

    当然，日本还没有走上完全依赖清洁能源的道路。此外，这个国家也在很大程度上转向了化石燃料。短短两年内，污染性能源在日本能源消费的占比就从60%飙涨至85%。

    为了减少日本对外国能源的依赖(它90％的能源依靠进口)和二氧化碳污染，小松公司打算在2014年之前将电力消耗减少50%。这家制造商声称，过去3年，在不减产的情况下，它通过改变生产方式已经节省了40%的能源成本。

    比如，小松公司用电池驱动的工具代替了非常耗电的气动装置，还引进了其他节电技术。此外，这家公司在楼顶安装了太阳能电池板，同时致力于寻找其他利用可再生能源的方式，比如使用地下水作为冷却剂。小松公司还计划在2020年之前投资300至400亿日元重建老化的厂房，建造使用LED照明设施，从而能节约能源的工厂和办公室。一个60瓦LED灯的耗电量大约是相同瓦数白炽灯的八分之一，这是一项每年都在成倍改善用电效率的技术。购置这种照明设备的开支只需两年时间就可以通过节省下来的电费得到填补。

    供职于九州大学(Kyushu University)无碳能源国际研究所 (International Institute of Carbon Neutral Energy Research)的宪史教授称，尽管出现了这么多变化，但日本的节能努力仍有改善空间。“许多地方依然在使用传统灯泡和荧光灯。这种状况亟需改变。使用LED照明灯是大势所趋。我们需要更好地把这个信息传递出去。”

    日本政府正在积极鼓励社会各界进一步节约能源，而且已为该国的家用电器设定了新的节能目标。超过20种电器现在需要满足一定的节能标准，而这类标准将变得越来越严格。现在，日本空调的能效较1998年提高了68%。至2020年，空调的能效还需在目前基础上提高一倍。

    Japan took the last of its 50 once-vital nuclear power stations offline last Monday. But despite having one of the hottest summers on record, Japan has had no power rationing or blackouts this year. How did they do it? Put simply, the country cut back.

    "Japan's nuclear reactors have mostly been replaced by post-catastrophe efficiency gains which reduced [energy] consumption by around 15-20%," says Kevin Meyerson, a retired American businessman and now an energy conservationist living in Japan. "For example, offices throughout Japan have replaced high-consumption lighting with newly developed-in-Japan low-power LED lights, cutting office electricity consumption up to 40%."

    Such conservation has made Japan's vulnerable nuclear power plants redundant for the time being. Cutting energy demand by 10% across the board in Japan has eliminated the need for about 14 nuclear reactors, according to government figures.

    Leading the charge to unplug are major corporations like Komatsu, the world's second-largest construction equipment manufacturer, which has pledged to cut its energy consumption by at least 50% by 2015. They are not alone. In the wake of the Fukushima disaster, public and private conservation efforts have helped keep power demand comfortably in check.

    To be sure, Japan hasn't gone entirely green. The nation has also turned to fossil fuels in a very big way. Dirty energy now accounts for 85% of Japan's energy consumption, up from 60% within just two years.

    In a bid to reduce Japan's dependence on foreign energy -- 90% of its energy resources are imported -- and CO2 pollution, Komatsu has aimed for a 50% cut in its electricity consumption by 2014. Without any reduction in production, the company claims it has already saved 40% over three years on energy costs by changing its manufacturing methods.

    Komatsu has replaced power-hungry pneumatics with battery-powered tools, for example -- and introduced other power-saving technology. The firm has also installed solar panels on the rooftops of its buildings and is working on finding ways of taking advantage of renewable energy, such as using underground water as a coolant. Komatsu also plans to invest 30-40 billion yen by 2020 to rebuild its aging plants and replace them with factories and offices that can save energy by employing LED lighting. A 60-watt type LED uses about one-eighth the power that a 60-watt incandescent bulb uses, and is a technology that is improving exponentially each year. Such lighting can pay for itself in lowered utility bills within two years.

    Despite all the changes, there is still room for improvement in Japan, says Kenshi Itaoka, a professor at the International Institute of Carbon Neutral Energy Research, Kyushu University. "Conventional light bulbs and fluorescent lights are still used in a lot of places. This needs to change. LEDs are the way forward. We need to get the message out better."

    Keen to encourage further energy savings, Japan's government has set new targets for the nation's domestic appliances. Energy efficiency is now required for over 20 different types of electronics. Such rules will get stricter. Air conditioners in Japan, which are 68% more energy-efficient today than they were in 1998, are now required to become twice as efficient by 2020.