The award ceremony of the "Cool the Earth" Idea Contest
* The organizer of this contest is Eco Business Creation Association and the manager of the web site is NTT Resonant Inc.
The award ceremony of the "Cool the Earth" Idea Contest was held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, December 14, 2007, on the Eco Communication Stage at the Eco-Products 2007 exhibition, which was held from December 13 to 15, 2007.
Dr. Ryoichi Yamamoto, advisor of the contest and professor at the Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, Mr. Fumikazu Masuda, professor at Tokyo Zokei University, and Mr. Peter David Pedersen, chief executive of E-Square Inc., were presented at the ceremony.
After the opening remarks of Mr. Eisuke Kumano, chairman of the Eco Business Creation Association, Dr. Yamamoto made a speech before distributing awards. He mentioned the result of the thirteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention (COP 13) held at Bali, Indonesia, and said, "Global warming is an urgent problem to be addressed. To commercialize eco-products is important, but how to reduce CO2 emissions is directly connected with the future of mankind."
Prizes were then awarded to the winners. Mr. Tetsuro Mori won the grand prize in the Governmental System/Policy Division (domestic) for his entry titled "Restraining Global Warming and Promoting Health through Reducing the Amount of Meat-Eating and Total Dietary Intake." In the Governmental System/Policy Division (overseas), Mr. Avi Blau won for his "Personal Carbon Credits" submission. Mr. Yoshihito Kobayashi won in the Business Division (domestic) for his entry called "Promotion of the Use of Electric Vehicles by Standardizing Lithium Ion Batteries." Ms. Yoshimi Kumaoka won the Amita Award for her idea, "Establishing Japan's Environment Day and Planting Trees by Elementary/Junior High School Students."
Each winner commented that although they presented their ideas to help reduce global warming even a little, it was a great pleasure for them to win in their categories.
Lastly, Professor Masuda and Mr. Pedersen said a few words in closing.
Professor Masuda reflected, "We are inspired that we received 87 entries from various countries in the world. We are also greatly encouraged that we found some winning ideas require self-restraint and try for the establishment of these self-restraints as a social system."
Mr. Pedersen said, "It is important to come up with ideas, but it is especially important for Japan to implement them. I hope these ideas, especially the winning ones, will be put into action."
The contest is the first project sponsored by the Eco Business Creation Association. The association plans to continue the contest in the future, hoping this contest will be a useful vehicle for society.