July 4, 2008

Japan Sees a Chance to Promote Its Energy-Frugal Ways

By MARTIN FACKLER

1.         With its towering furnaces and clanging conveyer belts carrying crushed rock, Taiheiyo Cement’s factory looks like an Industrial Revolution relic.

Clang: to make the ringing sound of two metal objects hitting each other; to move or operate with a clanging sound

2.         But it is actually a model of modern energy efficiency, harnessing its waste heat to generate much of its own electricity.

Harness to gain control of something and use it for some purpose

3.         Engineers from China and elsewhere in Asia come to study its design, which has allowed the company to slash the amount of power it buys from the grid.

Slash (vt.) to make long deep cuts in something; to reduce or shorten something greatly

Grid utilities network: a network of cables, lines, or pipes for distributing electricity, gas, or water, ex, the Northeast power grid

4.         The plant is just one example of Japan’s single-minded dedication to reducing energy use, a commitment that dates back to the oil shocks of the 1970s that shook this resource-poor nation.

5.         Now, with oil prices hitting dizzying levels and the world struggling with global warming, the country is hoping to use its conservation record to take a rare leadership role on a pressing global issue.

Dizzy (vt.) to cause somebody to feel unsteady, giddy, confused, or bewildered

Pressing needing to be attended to without delay, ex. a pressing engagement; persistent and demanding, and therefore difficult to ignore or refuse, ex, Her invitations were so pressing that we eventually had to accept.

6.         It will showcase its efforts to export its conservation ethic—and its expensive power-saving technology—at next week’s meeting in Japan of the Group of 8 industrial leaders.

7.         “Superior technology and a national spirit of avoiding waste give Japan the world’s most energy-efficient structure,” Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said in a speech outlining his agenda for the meeting.

8.         Mr. Fukuda has already urged the leaders of the Group of 8 nations to adopt numerical targets as they discuss new ways to curb carbon dioxide emissions, a focus of treaty talks aimed at a new global agreement by the end of 2009.

9.         The existing pacts, the original climate treaty from 1992 and the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012, have been called failures by energy and climate experts.

10.     President Bush and other leaders are facing calls to expand offshore drilling and to rein in hedge funds and other investors blamed for speculating on world energy markets.

hedge fundà risk-taking investment company: an investment company that is organized as a limited partnership and uses high-risk techniques in the hope of making large profits.

[from wikipedia: A hedge fund is a private, largely unregulated pool of capital whose managers can buy or sell any assets, bet on falling as well as rising assets, and participate substantially in profits from money invested. It charges both a performance fee and a management fee. Typically open only to qualified investors, hedge fund activity in the public securities markets has grown substantially, accounting for approximately 10% of all U.S. fixed-income security transactions, 35% of U.S. activity in derivatives with investment-grade ratings, 55% of the trading volume for emerging-market bonds, and 30% of equity trades. Hedge Funds dominate certain specialty markets such as trading within derivatives with high-yield ratings and distressed debt.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedge_fund ]

11.     Japan is by many measures the world’s most energy-frugal developed nation.

12.     After the energy crises of the 1970s, the country forced itself to conserve with government-mandated energy-efficiency targets and steep taxes on petroleum.

Steep faster or greater than is usual or expected, ex., a steep decline in demand; unreasonably or excessively high, especially in cost ( informal )

13.     Energy experts also credit a national consensus on the need to consume less.

Credit(vt.) to accept that something is true

14.     According to the International Energy Agency, based in Paris, Japan consumed half as much energy per dollar worth of economic activity as the European Union or the United States, and one-eighth as much as China and India in 2005.

15.     While the country is known for green products like hybrid cars, most of its efficiency gains have been in less eye-catching areas, for example, in manufacturing.