vegan italian food in japan?

vegan food is quite easy to come by in japan.  most basic language books have the cheat sheet on how to communicate your dietary desires.  once you open up that door, the possibilities are virtually endless.

a fine establishment in kitakami city, iwate prefecture is la taverna.  the wonderful folks there were very accommodating and thrilled to make a full on vegan meal.  now, this place is not traditional japanese food, but  a lilt on italian dining.  excellent wine selection, fantastic salad, a mushroom pasta dish to keep you up at night with your stomach growling, and a thin crust pizza with house-made tofu-"cheese."  all was absolutely delicious and wonderful.  and then they brought out the dessert...vegan strawberry shortcake--gluten-free, too!  the tofu-creme was a touch of magic.

many thanks to the fine folks at la taverna for a fantastic meal.

and to koji takusari and the takusari family for their wonderful hospitality! an amazing place to share with amazing people.

diplomatic adventures navigating renewable energy in japan

meeting with iwate-ken governor and senior advisors to discuss renewable energy initiatives in northern japan.

getting further detail from industry development director for iwate-ken.  a number of strong take-aways thus far:

• city of morioka –green initiatives
• iwate prefecture –dedication to advancing green technologies
• kowai closed-loop biomass facility–creating energy from organic matter discards
• city of ninohe –green initiatives and solar installations
• iwate hospital –energy efficiency, green roof, and solar initiative
• kashiwadai hydro-electric power station –in-line small hydro facility generating 13,100kw in the three stations, interesting to note: facility on national park land and strong efforts to keep visual impairment of facilities from public eye
• green power kuzumaki –wind farm in kuzumaki, energy self-sufficient town of 8,000 people by renewables
• kashiwadai kougen –biomass energy production for kougen facilities

design: mindful and simple

there is something humbling, something enlightening, something troubling about being out of your mundane experience and being in someone(s) else's everyday life.  one can find thrill and enjoyment in a thing so simple as a public wash basin.

closed-loop biomass energy generation (no, don't yawn--this is cool)

a major player in the organic/natural foods industry in japan, koiwai farms, has developed a zero-waste, methane capture energy generation system on their main growing facility in northeastern japan.  the biomass and composting facility is a closed-loop system--taking the organic debris from the agricultural production and integrating it into a fuel source--biomass for biofuel.

the biofuel is created using an active process of methane acceleration and capture.  the methane is then utilized to generate electricity and heat for the farm operations.  the residual bio-products following the methane capture process are nutrient-rich matter that can be further composted and, in a total closed-loop process, be directly applied back into the soil of the farm itself, as rich fertilizer.

the japanese are making some headway on a few model program installations such as this, in the biofuel realm.  very interesting and could be raised to large scale to create larger impact.

photovoltaic performance in heavy japanese snow

well, we toured a city facility with 50kW of solar pv in ninohe, japan on a day with 100% cloud cover and 1" snow accumulation per hour.  needless to say, we experienced the painful example of the intermittence in generation that photovoltaics are subject to.  fortunately, on such days the tendency of wind is in greater likelihood and, therefore, can serve as a secondary generation source.

there are a number of large wind generators in iwate prefecture that provide self-sufficiency for their demand area and surplus consumption.  this surplus is sold back to conventional energy producers via the grid and is mandated by the japanese government to be paid to the renewable energy generator at 2x the going kilowatt hour rate.  in this case, a typical japanese kwh goes for roughly .20cents.  surplus renewable energy (re) generation is purchased by a utility company from the re owner at .40cents per kwh.  not bad, eh?  it incentivizes larger systems beyond self-sufficiency for a homeowner or business to install--helping to leverage a fledgling renewable energy tidal wave to the conventional power generation on the grid.  we'll see what happens...
 

jidohanbaiki

convenience is everywhere in japan.  one can find virtually everything one needs within a short walking distance.  among these tools of convenience are the jidohanbaiki--a.k.a. vending machine.  usually found in multiples with dangling signs to catch your eye, this gem was straight-away outside of my door in a recent hotel.  so i could slip out of my room in robe and slippers, clink-clink a couple of coins, and relish the beverage of my election.

you can find a good number of other goods in such convenient machines on streets, alleys, and public corners.  sure, you can find a necktie!  or some pepperoni slices!  or a flower bouquet!  never fear, the judohanbaiki is here.

odango wa...anata o aishite imasu.

is it possible to love a food?  i mean, really love a food.  if that is the case, i'd say that i've re-ignited my old love affair with a shapely japanese morsel called dango.

plump round balls of gooey rice flour, grilled to perfection whilst lined up snug on a bamboo skewer.
laden in a sweet-savory sauce of sugar-soy.  it is light, it is joy, it is delicious.  nice to see you, old friend dango.

ohayo gozamasu--good to meet you, renewable japan... (retrospective: week 1 of 5)

the professional renewable exchange team from colorado team's first week in japan has been tightly packed with site visits, information exchange, meeting with dignitaries and elected officials, and various meetings.

upon arriving in sendai city, miagi prefecture, japan, our colorado team has been on the move, nonstop.  our gracious and wonderful japanese hosts have set up a tight curriculum for our single focus exchange on renewable and sustainable industries, yet have orchestrated all the logistics to ensure that our travelling team is well-fed, rested, and able to be expedited to each location--so as we can remain focused on the goals of the exchange. domo arigato gozamasu!

our whirlwind exchange is nearing the end of the first intensive week.  during this time we have gained a strong overview of:

• city of morioka --green initiatives
• iwate prefecture --dedication to advancing green technologies
• kowai closed-loop biomass facility--creating energy from organic matter discards
• city of ninohe --green initiatives and solar installations
• iwate hospital --energy efficiency, green roof, and solar initiative
• kashiwadai hydro-electric power station --in-line small hydro facility generating 13,100kW in the three stations, interesting to note: facility on national park land and strong efforts to keep visual impairment of facilities from public eye
• green power kuzumaki --wind farm in kuzumaki
• kashiwadai kougen --biomass energy production for kougen facilities

thus far, take-aways from this experience have illustrated that there are a number of advances in renewable energy that the government and businesses of northeastern japan have taken.  a number of incentive programs for solar photovoltaic (pv) adoption, similar to those we have in the usa, have resulted in stimulating the purchase of systems for government buildings and beta model test applications.  they have an expressed roadblock in achieving economy of scale and targeted packaged programming to drive the residential solar pv market.

the biomass operations that we have seen have been modest in scale and have had a closed-loop application.  organic matter coming from the main farming facilities, being composted and digested for methane capture, transfer of methane to alternating current electricity, and reapplication of nutrient-rich soil amendment following the methane capture process.

the in-line hydro-electric facility was very impressive in it's attention to utilizing the kinesis of the river current and balancing the environmental degredation that can result from hydro facilities.  a large majority of the in-line system was masked by facility design to blend in to the natural environment and conduit is largely underground and, therefore, unseen by the national park visitors the facilities are housed within.

our travelling colorado renewable energy team looks forward to continuing our intensive focus in the coming weeks.