Japan's Ministry of the Environment (MOE) launched a pilot project to study the the effects of visualizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from households, as announced on August 17, 2009. In the project, data on power consumption and GHG emissions associated with the use of air conditioners, refrigerators and TV sets in participating households are indicated on power monitoring devices connected to these electric appliances, and MOE studies how this visualization contributes to reductions in emissions. Participant households were separated into two groups. One group was only asked to install the power-monitoring devices, while the other group is requested to take several simple energy-saving actions, along the use of the devices, such as turning up/down the preset temperatures of air conditioners and turning down the brightness of TV screens. MOE intends to study the differences in energy-saving effects between the two groups. The project is scheduled to be carried out in three different seasons; August 2009 (summer), October 2009 (autumn) and January 2010 (winter). See also MOE to research ways to display CO2 emissions from products and services - http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/026972.html
