From Africa around the World.: 21/02/2010

21/02/2010

http://my.nowpublic.com/world/future-now-green-automobiles-replace-polluting-cars

By, Uwe Paschen.

Replacing at least 90% of all conventional Gasoline powered automobiles in Japan with in the coming decade with environment friendly vehicles. This was the election promise last August made by our new Social Democratic Government.

It seems that they will keep this electoral promise and that most cars on the roads of Japan will in deed be powered by either electricity or Hydrogen before the end of 2020. This is done with a systematic approach that is cost effective and builds on existing infrastructures rather then having to make massive new investments.

The First step was the Hybrid; this is now followed by the electric car and will lead to the Hydrogen powered car by 2050.

The electric car is ready for the market now and went on sale last December with government incentives of up to 1.4 million Yen (wish equates to about $15,000.00).

Mitsubishi is selling since December 2009 its new “MIEV” here in Japan wish cost at the moment 4 million Yen (about $45,000.00), the governments incentive would bring the current price down to 2.6 million Yen (or $30,000.00).

Mitsubishi for its part plans to be able to lower the price down to 2 million Yen ($22,000.00) by 2012.

Similar models and price rages can be fund with all major carmakers, such as Daimler AG,Toyota Motor Corp., General Motors Corp., Renault SA, Peugeot-Citroen, and VW AG. They all have and are still developing new-generation electric vehicles as well as Hydrogen powered automobiles.

Most of us do not realise that the Electric vehicles were among the earliest automobiles, starting in 1881, with the French inventor Gustave Trouvé who demonstrated a working three-wheeled automobile that was powered by electricity, and this was before the pre-eminence of light or powerful internal combustion engines, electric automobiles held many vehicle land speed and distance records in the early 1900s. Those were produced byBaker Electric, Columbia Electric, Detroit Electric, and others and at one point in history they out-sold gasoline-powered vehicles.

Still, preceding those electric engines was the hydrogen internal combustion engine wish was invented in 1807 by François Isaac de Rivaz a Swiss engineer. Today Hydrogen engines are making a come back after two centuries of neglect and those new engines prove to be more efficient bulk for bulk then any Gasoline engines could ever be. Those Hydrogen powered engines are not lacking future potential in diverse applications either, even in the racing industry. Judging by the single seat BMW H2R wish has most recently set a land-speed record for H2 cars of 298 Km/H (185 mph) plus eight other speed records as well.

Wile electric motors do not have the torque of combustion engines and still have limited range due to the batteries charge, their weight and life span. They do seem to be the best solution for the time being for passenger cars short to medium and long-range travel.

In heavy transportation, agriculture and construction though, the best way to go seems to be the Bio-Diesel engine or the Hydrogen engine.

While some consumers are still reluctant to make the change in favour of the environment and find countless excuses not to go green, the facts show that none of those seem valid though.

For instance, some argue that the range of an electric car is to limited.

Most people drive less then 40 Km per day and most electric cars have a range exceeding 120 Km and need a maximum of 7 hours to fully charge when empty on a 100 Volt outlet and only 20 minutes at a charging station, wish uses 480 Volt outlets. Those electric cars can already be recharged almost anywhere today and new charging stations are being build with low investments. Usually the charging time is much less since at the end of the day the battery is not completely empty.

Further, electric cars are not only for short distance driving, for the past seven years that electric cars have been tested, those where regularly driven in excess of 160 Km.

The electricity used by electric car does cause no pollution if produced by renewable energies sources and even if the electricity is produced by coal power plants it still causes 0.2 Kg less CO2 pollution for every 3 Km driven then the average Gasoline powered car wish produces 1 Kg of CO2 for every 3 Km driven.

The power grid can handle the switch to electric cars as well as a 2007 study fund; wish was conducted by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Batteries’ polluting the environment is of concern for many consumers. However, it is unfunded since all manufactures do offer extensive recycling programs and already today more then 95% of all batteries are being properly recycled in Japan and the EU.

Today those batteries are still expensive. This will rapidly change though, as Mitsubishi announced for there own batteries for example, the cost will be reduced by two third by 2012 once the production volume has amortise the initial investment cost.

The fear of explosion or fire off the batteries is unfunded as well since they are many kinds of lithium-ion batteries, those that have made the news are the lithium-cobalt batteries found in consumer electronics, they can pose a fire risk in certain circumstances. Most plug-in vehicle makers are working with other battery types (such as lithium-iron-phosphate and lithium-manganese) those have inherent safety advantages and they also have a longer life span then lithium-cobalt batteries do.

According to the journal, Science and others, by 2050 most of us will not drive nor see a conventional Gasoline powered car any longer.

Finally yet importantly is the up front investment cost wish is higher for electric or Hydrogen powered Automobiles then it is for conventional gasoline powered cars. The operation cost on the other hand is substantially lower with an electric or hydrogen-powered car though. Since it does cost on average 9 Yen (11cents) in Gasoline for every Km where as it cost only one Yen (1.3cents) for every Km with an electric car and 3 Yen (4.2cents) with a Hydrogen powered car.

The Green car is no longer a futuristic vision of some sort. The change is already under way here in Japan as well as in the EU and elsewhere. Better trade that polluting gasoline powered car for an Electric one wile you still can, because very soon no one will want to trade those polluters in any longer. The upcoming new laws will be harsh on those Gasoline engines making them very expensive to own and operate.

http://press.nationalgeographic.com/pressroom/pressReleaseFiles/1255647197416/1255647197419/ngm_november2009_highlights.pdf

http://my.nowpublic.com/environment/climate-change-it-real-or-are-we-being-mislead

http://my.nowpublic.com/world/japans-pm-yukio-hatoyama-keep-electoral-promises

http://my.nowpublic.com/world/japan-does-now-jail-polluters

http://my.nowpublic.com/environment/japan-make-climate-change-priority-over-economy

http://my.nowpublic.com/environment/toyotas-first-solar-powered-car

http://my.nowpublic.com/world/solar-power-restart-economy-and-create-jobs-world-wide

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UK Budget Brings Green Rewards To Renewables, Power Companies, Energy Efficiency And Cars

Permanent residence may be granted the right to vote in Japan.

By, Uwe Paschen.

To give or not to give permanent residence the right to vote in Japan, this is the question many ask them self these days.

Japan may give permanent residence the right to vote at the local and maybe even at the national level as well. This idea is not new, the Democratic Party of Japan called for "early legislation" in respect of that goal as part of its basic policies adopted when the party was established in 1998. A bill was submitted to that end to the Diet in October of that same year, as the DPJ was an opposition party. The DPJ however did not include this proposal in its manifesto for the Aug. 30, 2009 House of Representatives election due to the cautious stance taken by some party members. Nevertheless, this bill is now resurfacing and may pass since the DPJ does hold the majority in the House of Representatives since August last, the bill does have a strong support with in the DPJ leadership, including Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa.

Ichiro Ozawa may even be its strongest advocate and he is seen as the backbone of the Japanese government.

The Japanese top court has already made a statement to that regard in 1995, saying that the Constitution does not prohibit permanent foreign residents from being given the right to vote in elections for municipal heads and assembly members, and that legislatures should decide whether to give them that right. The obiter dictum the Court gave is not legally binding for the government though.

Some argue that being a tax paying resident should allow one to retain some political an legislative rights such as the right to vote, this argument by it self is a dangerous one though, for it open the doors to a line of argument that people who do not pay taxes should not be permitted to vote. This in turn could undermine the democratic values and integrity of the country.

Still, as permanent resident one is a fully integrated part of the country and should be granted the right to vote and participate at least in local politics that directly affect once children schooling, once work and all other aspects of life, this is especially the view of the Korean Diaspora.

This debate is not unique to Japan either nor are the diverging opinion on it. In Germany and France for instance, it has been debated back and forth for over two decades now, resulting in some changes for the Turkish permanent residence in Germany and the Algerian Permanent Residence in France, those where granted some of these rights at the municipal level. In addition, New-Zealand has awarded its permanent residence the right to vote since 1975 and this not only at a local level but at a national level as well. This as long as they have resided continuously in New-Zealand at least for a period of one year and in the electoral district at least for a period of one month.

Why is it important? Japan like many other countries does not allow dual citizen ship, at least not as a norm, further, one is not granted Japanese citizenship by birth either, unless one parent is Japanese, same is the case in Germany for instance.

Since Japan does need to retain its permanent residence as well as introduce and facilitate more immigration due to its low birth rates and rapidly aging population. It has to make some legislative changes to address those problems, especially due to the pressure exercised by its large Korea Diaspora that in 1995 took the matter to the Japanese courts.

First and second Generation immigrants still have strong ties to their country of origine and are not willing to severe those readily, mainly for family reasons, such as having to return to their home land for a time to care for aging parents. Also allowing their children the freedom and giving them the opportunity to go back if they so show’s, May that be for their education or to reside in their parents country of origine.

For the Korean it is even more importand to retain their Korean Citizenship and this more for historical reasons then practical once. They where broth to Japan in the 1930s and 40s, some by force as Korea was part of the Japanese Empire.

This is in part why for many permanent residence it is a question of identity that is not much different then once religious or cultural affiliation would be.

With only 1,6% foreigners living in Japan today of wish less then 60% are permanent residence, their potential impact on the political arena would be minimal. Still the Nationalist movement radically opposes the idea and lobbies with fury against this bill to be passed, even though being a minority, the nationalist certainly make up for it in noise and propaganda and can not be ignored for it.

However, arguments of national security and potential terrorism do not stand up to logic, since the danger of such is far greater coming from with in the Japanese Nationals, as statistics show, then coming from the permanent residence in Japan, for those are usually the most law obeying subject in the country, let alone out of fear to lose their status.

There are also numerous prejudices that need to be overcome with facts, such as criminality rising in Japan, Often blamed on the rise in foreigner, wish is not true though since statically speaking, crimes committed by foreigners are infinitely few and not on the rise either.

Further, discrimination against immigrants especially at their work place does still exist.

Perhaps it is time that the Japanese government reconsider the voting rights of this growing segment of the population. It would certainly be seen as a progressive step and betterment of the status of permanent residence in Japan as well as a step toward further democratisation of society over all, wish by it self is most desirable for all residence regardless of their status.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEHmzgXmcqg&feature=player_embedded

http://www.japantoday.com/category/poll/view/should-permanent-foreign-residents-have-the-right-to-vote-in-elections-in-their-country-of-residence

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/11/19/2009111900613.html

http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/110004382228/en

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanent_residency