世論 What Japan Thinks

With it looking like we have managed to survive the summer without a single power cut in Japan, it may be a good time to look at a survey from goo Research conducted in July on saving electricity.

Demographics

Between the 4th and 7th of July 2011 1,080 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.2% of the sample were male, 19.5% in their teens, 20.3% in their twenties, 19.9% in their thirties, 20.2% in their forties, and 20.1% aged fifty or older.

The survey title in the original Japanese is usually translated (as I did above) as “saving electricity”, but as a pedant I’d like to point out that you cannot really save electricity, but instead just cut down on the usage. We tried to cut down this summer by using less air conditioning and relying on a simple fan a bit more, but quite frankly I see little difference in our monthly bills.

At work we have various changes, but the stupidest one was to unplug the rechargers for our company mobile phones during peak hours. However, the company phones have hopeless batteries, so if you forgot to plug back in before a long weekend, for example, you could come back to a dead phone that has returned to factory settings. On top of that, it just takes one person to bang their head on the underside of the desk and you’ll have the Health and Safety people all over you. This activity lasted exactly two days in our team.

Research results

Q1: Compared with before the earthquake, how has your awareness of reducing electricity usage changed? (Sample size=1,080)

Became much more aware	26.9%
Became a little more aware	50.1%
Not changed	22.4%
Became a little less aware	0.2%
Become much less aware	0.4%

Men in their twenties had the lowest percentage of raised awareness at 63.6%, and women in their thirties had the highest at 86.9%.

Q2: Which of the following actions have you taken to reduce electricity usage? (Sample size=1,080, multiple answer)

Take care to switch off lights, etc	64.0%
Raise the temperature setting on the air conditioning	51.8%
Don’t use lights in daytime	46.1%
Use air conditioning less	42.5%
Unplug electrical items when not in use	33.2%
Watch less television	28.6%
Close the toilet seat after use	27.0%
Turn the brightness down on the television, use eco mode	25.5%
Use less bulbs, turn down dimmers, otherwise live in a darker environment	22.5%
Stop using rice cooker function for keeping rice warm	21.9%
Stop using heated toilet seat	21.7%
Turn down the temperature setting on heated toilet seat	20.7%
Set the refrigerator temperature higher	20.6%
Stopped using air conditioning	17.5%
Stop using heat maintenance function on hot water pot	15.6%
Change to low-energy light bulbs	13.5%
Go to be earlier to reduce light use	13.0%
Use computer less	11.8%
Decrease length of use of hair dryer	11.8%
Stop using heated bidet function	11.3%
Reduce duration of use of extractor fans	9.4%
Switch off modem, router when not in use	6.6%
Stop using dishwasher	5.7%
Use DVD player, video recorder less	5.3%
Play console games less	5.1%
Stop using clothes drier	4.8%
Set temperature on instant hot water boiler lower	4.6%
Stop using humidifier	3.4%
Reduce the contracted maximum electricity power usage	1.5%
Other	0.7%
Nothing in particular	11.6%

Q3: How important do you think it is for companies to take measures to reduce their electricity usage? (Sample size=1,080)

Very important	40.8%
Somewhat important	43.4%
Can’t say	12.8%
Not very important	2.2%
Not at all important	0.7%

Overall, women felt corporate power saving was five percentage points more important than men.

Q4: Of all the corporate measures that have been proposed or enacted, which do you think are the three most effective? (Sample size=1,080, up to three answers)

Raising the temperature setting of in-room air conditioning	45.2%
Turn off outdoor lighting, signage	40.5%
Reduce, turn off in-room lighting	31.3%
Introduce Cool Biz	30.2%
Introduce backup power generators	18.6%
Stop, limit use of lifts, escalators	15.9%
Switch working days with weekend	14.8%
Shorten working hours	12.8%
Introduce summer time (time shift starting and finishing times)	11.1%
Rotate days off	8.4%
Lengthen summer holidays	6.9%
Introduce telecommuting system	6.5%
Reduce computer use at peak times	6.4%
Introduce late night working	4.4%
Introduce a three-day week	4.2%
Nothing in particular, don’t know	6.3%

Q5: How do you think nuclear reactors should be used in the future? (Sample size=1,080)

Stop all reactors and don’t use in future	8.1%
Plan to move to other generation methods and reduce the number of reactors	50.2%
Stop only the reactors said to be at high risk, but continue to use the rest	26.6%
Return to the state before the disaster	7.7%
Plan new reactors and increase nuclear power generation	1.9%
Don’t know	5.5%

Overall about 15 percentage points more of women than men thought reactors should be phased out.

Looking at the issue of the most important issues surrounding electricity generation, about 75% thought that safe energy generation was important, whereas 68% thought stability of supply was important. 50% thought gentleness on the environment was important, and about 38% rated renewable resources and the same percentage rated cheapness as important. Finally, 31% rated a secure fuel supply as important.

Regarding future electricity generation, about 70% had expectations for solar power generation, 48% for solar heating, 45% for wind power, 41% for geothermal, 30% for power generation from rubbish, 28% for biomass, around 15% for small and medium-sized hydro, natural gas co-generation, and fuel cells. Finally, 8% chose nuclear power, 4% oil, and 3% coal.