Japan’s energy-saving lessons

In 2011 when the tsunami triggered the meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Japan as a nation went into power-saving mode – which they call “setsuden”.

The company that operates the power plant lost 40% of it’s power overnight – some of the measures taken are so smart (or so duh!), it’s a wonder they’re not being used more broadly:

• Shopping centres switched off their elevators
• Office skyscrapers turned off their lights
• Workers were asked to bring their own drinks to work, so they could switch off vending machines (vending machines are EVERYWHERE in Japan)
• Sports matches were played during the day to save on lighting
• Car makers shuffled factory rosters so the power grid wasn’t overworked at peak times
• Plus an initiative called “Cool Biz” was launched, which encouraged workers to dress lightly and leave ties at home, so the aircon could be turned down.

Japan had to deal with several knock-on issues after that, including a recession, but the setsuden measures got them through the low power supply period, which is now being used as a model for Europe in it’s current power crisis.

Plenty of power-saving lessons for us all in here.