The athletes’ village for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo will be a futuristic “hydrogen town” where electricity and hot water are generated from the abundant element, the Yomiuri Shimbun said yesterday.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government planners want to use the opportunity of hosting the summer sporting festival as a boost to so-called “clean” energy, the Yomiuri said.
The city wants to build hydrogen stations and pipelines that would send the gas to accommodation units, athletic facilities and restaurants, it added.
Fuel cells installed at facilities would then use the hydrogen, in combination with oxygen from the air, to produce power and heat water.
Buses ferrying athletes around would be fueled by hydrogen and refilled from special stations.
The report comes after Toyota Motor last month rolled out the world’s first mass-market fuel cell car in Japan.
Hydrogen power is classed as clean energy because it produces only water as a by-product at the point of use.
The athletes’ village is to be located in Tokyo’s Harumi waterfront area and would be a temporary home to about 17,000 people during the Games.
Once the Games are over, it is set to be converted into a town with a population of about 10,000, the Yomiuri said.
The contract for planning the village will be awarded to a private company by the end of March, with the use of hydrogen a condition for application, it said.
Despite its abundancy, hydrogen does not occur naturally as a gas and needs to be extracted from compounds. The Yomiuri added that production of a large quantity of hydrogen was challenging.
“Realization of a hydrogen-based society is an important goal for resource-poor Japan and would lead to curbing of greenhouse gases,” Hitotsubashi University commerce and management professor Takeo Kikkawa said.
“There are not a small number of technical tasks, but the Tokyo Olympics is a big chance to realize it. As the athletes’ village is built from scratch, it would be an ideal large-scale experiment,” he said.
The Tokyo government said it was not immediately able to confirm the report.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was