JP7689908B2 - Environmental load calculation device, guidance information providing system, and environmental load calculation method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an environmental load calculation device, a guidance information providing system, and an environmental load calculation method.

In order to move towards a carbon-free society, efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are expanding. A survey conducted in fiscal 2019 showed that carbon dioxide emissions from the transportation sector accounted for 18.6% of the total, and public transportation companies are also working to make their facilities and vehicles more energy-efficient and to utilize renewable energy.

As a result of these efforts, the amount of carbon dioxide emissions varies depending on the means of transportation used, even when traveling between the same two points. However, if users do not have a way to measure the environmental impact of the actions they choose, they cannot choose actions that have a lower environmental impact.

In response to this, applications are now emerging that estimate and display the amount of carbon dioxide emissions associated with the selected transport service when using the application to obtain transport service guidance information.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a system in which, when a travel route between two points is searched for using an application running on a mobile device, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted during the travel is estimated and displayed along with the travel route information, taking into account carbon offset sections designated by each transport company, and the user is requested to pay a fee according to the amount of emissions.

Patent Document 2 also discloses a system in which, when searching for a travel route between two points in a car navigation system, the system estimates the route from the departure point to the destination with minimal carbon dioxide emissions, taking into account the route information as well as the gradient of the route and traffic congestion.

Furthermore, Patent Document 3 discloses a system that, when searching for a travel route between two points, calculates the amount of carbon dioxide emissions according to the type of energy source of the electricity stored in the vehicle battery that stores the electricity used to run the vehicle, along with the travel route information.

JP 2010-108512 A JP 2009-79995 A JP 2019-15595 A

The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 requires transportation operators to define the amount of carbon dioxide emissions for each section of a travel route and the sections for which carbon offsets have been applied, but the method for doing so is not disclosed.

The technology disclosed in Patent Document 2 calculates the amount of carbon dioxide emitted when driving each route by car, taking into account the gradient of the route and the number of stops due to congestion, but does not take into account the energy source used by the car. Since the amount of carbon dioxide emissions varies greatly depending on the energy source, such as thermal power or solar power generation, it is necessary to calculate emissions taking the energy source into account.

The technology disclosed in Patent Document 3 calculates carbon dioxide emissions according to the type of energy source of the electricity stored in the vehicle battery, but the disclosed method cannot be applied to typical railway vehicles, which do not store electricity on board and use electricity supplied at the time of movement via overhead lines.

Transportation operators are implementing various initiatives, such as utilizing renewable energy and regenerative power, and emissions vary depending on the route, train type, and time of day. However, Patent Documents 1 to 3 do not disclose a method for reflecting these initiatives. Furthermore, if actions are chosen based solely on the emissions of the means of transportation, there is a risk that actions that have a high overall environmental impact will be chosen.

The object of the present invention is to use an environmental load calculation device to calculate the environmental load associated with a travel route or a facility used with high accuracy.

An environmental load calculation device according to one aspect of the present invention is an environmental load calculation device that uses a computer having a processing unit and a memory unit to calculate the environmental load related to the movement of a user of a means of transport, and is characterized by having a power consumption calculation unit that calculates the power consumption related to the travel route using the operation record and power consumption record of the means of transport over a certain period of time, a power source share estimation unit that estimates the power source share rate that varies depending on the weather or temperature using the power trading record, an emission calculation unit that calculates the carbon dioxide emission amount related to the travel route searched by the user based on the power consumption and the power source share rate, and a reduction amount calculation unit that calculates the reduction amount of the carbon dioxide emission based on the carbon dioxide emission.

According to one aspect of the present invention, an environmental load calculation device can calculate the environmental load related to a travel route or a facility used with high accuracy.

1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a guide information providing system according to an embodiment; FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a plan 210. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of energy purchase record 300. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a power supply sharing rate 500. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of emissions 700 by power source. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a track record 500. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of facility energy consumption 600. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sequence for providing guidance information according to an embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a process flow for calculating the amount of carbon dioxide emission along a travel route. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a process flow for calculating carbon dioxide emissions from facility use. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a detailed flow of a power consumption calculation process. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the relationship between occupancy rate and power consumption. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a processing flow for calculating a power supply share rate. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a guidance providing screen of a user terminal 3. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing another example of a guidance providing screen of a user terminal. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a carbon dioxide reduction amount and in-company currency conversion confirmation screen of the performance management computer 4.

The following describes the examples with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a guide information providing system according to an embodiment.
The guidance information providing system is a system that calculates the carbon dioxide emission amount of a travel route or facility searched by a user and provides guidance information for actions with less carbon dioxide emission. The guidance information providing system is, for example, an information processing system configured by connecting an emission amount calculation computer 1, a performance management computer 4, a guidance providing computer 2, and a user terminal 3 via a network 9.

Each of the emission calculation computer 1, the guidance provision computer 2, and the performance management computer 4 has, as hardware, a storage device (storage unit) 11 that stores programs and various data, a processing device 12 that executes the programs, and a communication device 13 that communicates via the network 2. Here, the processing device 12 is composed of, for example, a CPU (processor). The communication device 13 is composed of, for example, a communication I/F.

The user terminal 3 is a mobile terminal such as a smartphone held by a user. The user terminal 3 has, as hardware, a memory unit that stores programs and various data, a CPU that executes programs, a communication I/F that communicates with the network 2, an input unit, and a display unit. For ease of explanation, only the route and facility search unit 31 of the user terminal 3 is shown in FIG. 1.

The emission calculation computer 1 has a storage device (storage unit) 11, a processing device (CPU) 12, and a communication device (communication I/F) 13, and calculates carbon dioxide emission amounts. The storage device (storage unit) 11 stores an emission calculation program 100 and a database (DB) 110. The DB 100 includes a power purchase record DB 400, a power source share rate DB 500, an operation and power consumption record DB 600, and an emission amount by power source DB 700. An example of the configuration of each DB will be described later. In the following explanation, the symbols attached to each DB may refer to the DB or information of that DB. For example, it may be operation and power consumption record 600, power source share rate 500, etc.

The emission amount calculation program 100 has the functions of a power source share estimation unit 101, a power consumption calculation unit 102, an emission amount calculation unit 104, and a reduction amount calculation unit 105, and each function is realized by executing this program 100 on the CPU 12. Note that the emission amount calculation program 100 does not need to include all four of the above functions at the same time, and may be a collection of programs for each function.

The guidance providing computer 2 is an information processing device that uses the carbon dioxide emission calculation results from the emission calculation computer 1 to generate guidance information in which carbon dioxide emissions are added to route information for each user, and provides this information to the user terminal 3. This computer 2 stores in its storage unit a guidance program 20 having the functions of a route/facility search unit 21 and a settlement unit 22. These functions are realized by the guidance program 20 being executed by the CPU, and the guidance information is generated and provided.

The performance management computer 4 is an information processing device owned by a company that acquires and manages the amount of carbon dioxide emissions and reductions associated with travel and facility use by employees of the company as part of their business activities. For example, the performance management computer 4 checks the amount of carbon dioxide emissions associated with travel and facility use by employees as part of their business activities, and converts the amount of carbon dioxide reductions achieved by selecting methods that result in less carbon dioxide emissions into an in-company currency that can be used in the organization to which the employee belongs.

The performance management computer 4 is an information processing device that has an emission performance/reduction performance DB 900 and a performance management unit 41 in the memory unit, and manages performance information and in-company currency. The CPU executes a program to manage the recording and reading of information from each DB.

Next, we will explain each functional part of the emission calculation calculator 1.

The power source share estimation unit 101 of the emission calculation program 100 acquires the power trading record 200 from the power management computer 6 via the communication I/F 13, and creates the power source share rate 500 based on the day of the week, time period, weather, and temperature.

The power consumption calculation unit 102 acquires the operation record 800 from the operation management computer 5 via the communication I/F 13, and further acquires the power consumption record 300 from the power management computer 6, and creates the operation and power consumption record 600 that records the number of passengers and the power consumption record for each route and section. The power consumption calculation unit 102 then receives an inquiry from the guidance provision computer 2 via the communication I/F 13, and estimates the power consumption per person for any route and section based on the operation and power consumption record 600, the boarding date and time, the weather, and the temperature.

The emission calculation unit 104 calculates the power source share rate at the time of boarding from the power source share rate 500 based on the boarding date and time, weather, and temperature, and calculates the carbon dioxide emission amount when using the route/section in question from the power consumption amount, the power source share rate at the time of boarding, and the emission amount by power source 700.

The reduction amount calculation unit 105 calculates the reduction amount of carbon dioxide emissions based on the carbon dioxide emissions calculated by the emission amount calculation unit 104.

Next, we will explain examples of the configuration of each DB (or DB information) using Figures 2 to 6.

Figure 2 shows plan information 210, which is the result of a user's route search and facility search. Plan information 210 lists the travel routes and facility information searched by the user in chronological order of use, and is information provided to the user as action guidance. Plan information 210 is composed of date and time 211, station ID or facility ID 212 to be used, action type 213 indicating entry and exit to the station or facility, line ID 214, service ID 216 of the service to be used, type 215 indicating the type of service or facility, and number of service units 217.

Figure 3 shows an example of an electricity trading record DB 400. The electricity trading record DB 400 is composed of purchase destination 311, power source type 312, hourly trading volume 313, trading start time 314, trading end time 315, weather at trading start 316, temperature at trading start 317, and day of the week on which the transaction was made 318. The reason why the weather, temperature, and day of the week are recorded here is that in the case of solar power generation, the amount of power generated varies depending on the weather, and further, when purchasing electricity generated by solar power from an ordinary household, the amount of electricity consumed by the household is determined by the temperature and day of the week on that day, and the electricity offered for sale varies.

Figure 4A shows an example of a power supply share rate 500. The power supply share rate 500 is composed of a time period code 421, a weather code 422, a day of the week 423, a temperature zone code 424, and a power supply share rate 425.

Figure 4B shows the emissions by power source 700. The emissions by power source 700 is composed of the power source type 426, the power source priority order 427, and the emission coefficient 428, and specifies the priority order of use and the emission coefficient, which is the amount of carbon dioxide emitted to generate 1 kWh, for each type of power source, such as solar power generation or LNG thermal power generation. The emission coefficient is disclosed by the power company.

Figure 5 shows an example of operation and power consumption record 600. Operation and power consumption record DB 600 is composed of route ID 511, train type 512, number of trains (number of trains) 513, departure station 514, arrival station 515, number of passengers at departure station 515, temperature at departure station 517, train power consumption 518, which is the power required to travel from departure station 514 to arrival station 515, and recovered power 519, which is the power recovered by regenerative braking or the like during travel from departure station 514 to arrival station 515.

Here, the line ID 511, train type 512, number of train formations 513, departure station 514, arrival station 515, and number of passengers at departure station 515 are obtained by the power consumption calculation unit of the emission calculation program 100 from the operation management computer 5. The train power consumption 518 and recovered power 519 are obtained by the power consumption calculation unit of the emission calculation program 100 from the power management computer 6 owned by the transportation business operator.

Figure 6 is a diagram showing an example of facility energy consumption 600. Facility energy consumption 600 is composed of a facility ID 611, a service ID 612, capacity 613, and power consumption 613.

Next, referring to FIG. 7, we will explain a case where a company employee uses the present invention to determine the venue and travel route for a seminar.

First, the emission calculation computer 1 operated by the transportation business operator collects operation records and power consumption records, and creates operation and power consumption records 600 (S741). Next, the seminar organizer, who is an employee of the company, searches for a venue (S711). The guide providing computer 2 searches for locations based on the addresses of the participants where the travel distance for each person is below a certain value, and queries the emission calculation computer 1 about the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the use of those facilities and travel. The guide providing computer 2 calculates the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the use of the facilities and travel (S742).

Next, the amount of carbon dioxide emissions is calculated if the facility use and travel are all done using the most widely used power source, such as LNG thermal power, and the difference is calculated as the reduction amount (S743), and guidance information for the facility and travel route is returned to the user terminal 3.

The seminar host selects a venue taking into consideration the total amount of emissions (S712). The guide computer 2 bills the company for facility usage fees and pays the facility operator. It also notifies the company of the movement and emissions results (the reduction results when the means that can reduce emissions more are selected). The company's results management computer 4 records the reduction results for each department, converts the reduction amounts into company currency (S731), gives them to the relevant department, and enters them in the climate change countermeasures information disclosure (S732). The host or the department to which he or she belongs uses the company currency as a resource for activities (S713).

In the case of travel routes or transportation routes, the method of calculating the reduction amount may be the difference in emissions from the shortest route or the cheapest route that many people choose. Also, when a travel or transportation date and time with less emissions is selected instead of the initially specified travel date and time or shipping date and time, the reduction amount may be calculated by finding the difference in emissions between the initially specified date and time and the case where travel or transportation is performed on the selected date and time.

Next, calculation of the amount of power consumption for a travel route will be described with reference to FIG. 8. This process involves processing by the power consumption calculation unit 102 of the emission amount calculation program 100.

The emission calculation program 100 is executed by the CPU 12, and the power consumption calculation unit 102 periodically (e.g., once a week or once a month) obtains from the traffic management computer 5 the line ID 511, train type 512, number of trains (number of trains) 513, and the number of passengers at the time of departure from the departure station 514 516 for the travel section, which is the departure station 514 and arrival station 516.

Here, the number of passengers is information that can be acquired from a load sensor installed in the vehicle or a sensor installed in the station. Furthermore, the power consumption calculation unit 102 periodically (e.g., once a week or once a month) acquires the line ID 511, the train type 512, the power consumption 518 consumed for traveling between the departure station 514 and the arrival station 516, which are the traveling section, and the recovered power 519 from the power management computer 5 (S801).

Next, when the power consumption calculation unit 102 receives the plan information 200 from the route/facility search unit 21 of the guidance provision computer 2, it extracts in chronological order the boarding section distinguished by the line ID 214, flight ID 215, boarding station ID 212, and alighting station ID 212 from the plan information 200 (S802). The boarding station is a station whose action type 213 is departure, and the alighting station is a station whose action type 213 is arrival.

Then, the power consumption calculation unit 102 obtains forecast information on the weather and temperature during the ride for that section using a weather forecast service (S803). Services that provide forecasts of weather and temperature for the next few days to several hours via API are generally available.

Then, the power consumption calculation unit 102 extracts the route ID 214, the boarding section consisting of the departure station ID and the arrival station ID, the number of trains 217 to be used, and the train type 216 from the plan information 200, and obtains the power consumption between each station in the boarding section from the operation and power consumption record 600 using the predicted temperature at the time of boarding, and adds them together to obtain the power consumption for the entire boarding section (S804). Details of this power consumption acquisition process will be described later using FIG. 10.

Then, the recovered power 516 is subtracted from this power consumption, and the costs of common facilities such as tracks, overhead lines, signals, and stations, which are shared regardless of the service, are added to obtain the actual power consumption (S805). Next, the actual power consumption is divided by the number of passengers to calculate the power consumption per person (S806).

Next, the power source share rate 500 is referenced based on the weather, temperature, day of the week, and time of day at the time of boarding to determine the power source share rate at the time of boarding. The power consumption per person is then multiplied by the share rate to determine the power consumption for each power source, and the power consumption is multiplied by the emission coefficient for that power source to determine the carbon dioxide emissions resulting from using electricity from that power source. The sum of the carbon dioxide emissions from all power sources is then regarded as the carbon dioxide emissions resulting from travelling between sections.

The power consumption calculation unit 102 searches the plan information 200 for a section for which the carbon dioxide emission calculation has not been processed (S807), and if there is an unprocessed section, extracts the results for that section (S801). If there is no unprocessed section, the process ends.

The above processing of the power consumption calculation unit (S804) to (S806) is based on the assumption that the power consumption of each train is measured by an on-board power meter, but in reality, the power consumption of each train is often not measured. In such cases, the distance and power consumption per person are calculated using the following formula from the total output value of the substation in the electromotive circuit to which the target train belongs, and the total transportation distance and capacity of the trains in the electromotive circuit during a certain period including the target date and time.
Power consumption of transportation service (kWh/1 km/person) = Total output (kWh)/Σ(Total transportation distance of all flights x Capacity of each flight)

Next, the process of calculating the amount of power consumed during facility use will be described with reference to FIG. 9. This process involves processing by the power consumption calculation unit 102 of the emission calculation program 100. Even for the same distance, power consumption differs depending on gradients, curves, air conditioning use, vehicle weight, and number of passengers, so the emission calculation program 100 calculates the amount of power consumed based on actual results.

The emission amount calculation program 100 is executed by the CPU 12. When the power consumption calculation unit 102 receives the plan information 200 from the route and facility search unit 21 of the guidance providing computer 2, it acquires records related to facility usage from the plan information 200 and extracts the facility ID 214 and the service ID 215 in chronological order (S901).

Then, the power consumption calculation unit 102 obtains the predicted weather and temperature at the time of using the facility by using a weather forecast service (S902), and calculates the power consumption required for using the facility based on the power consumption record 600 using the facility ID to be used, the service type, and the predicted temperature at the time of boarding (S903).

Next, the power source share rate 500 is referenced from the weather, temperature, day of the week, and time period when the facility is used to determine the power source share rate when the facility is used (S905). The power consumption per person is then multiplied by the share rate to determine the power consumption for each power source, and the power consumption is multiplied by the emission coefficient for that power source to determine the carbon dioxide emissions resulting from using electricity from that power source. The sum of the carbon dioxide emissions from all power sources is then regarded as the carbon dioxide emissions resulting from facility use (S906).

The power consumption calculation unit 102 searches the plan information 200 for facilities for which carbon dioxide emission calculation has not been processed (S907), and if there is an unprocessed facility, extracts the actual usage record of the facility (S901). If there is no unprocessed facility, the process ends.

Next, the power consumption estimation operation (S804) of the power consumption calculation unit 102 will be described with reference to FIG. 10A. FIG. 10B is a diagram showing the relationship between occupancy rate and power consumption.

The power consumption calculation unit 102 periodically (for example, once a week or once a month) acquires from the traffic management computer 5 the line ID 511, the train type 512, the number of trains (number of trains) 513, and the number of passengers at the time of departure from the departure station 514 for the travel section, which is the departure station 514 and the arrival station 516.

The number of passengers is information that can be acquired from a load sensor installed in the vehicle or a sensor installed in the station. Furthermore, the power consumption calculation unit 102 periodically (e.g., once a week or once a month) acquires the line ID 511, the train type 512, the power consumption 518 consumed for traveling between the departure station 514 and the arrival station 516, which is the traveling section, and the recovered power 519 from the power management computer 5, and records them as operation and power consumption record 600 (S1001).

The power consumption calculation unit 102 selects only the results for the most recent period from the operation and power consumption results 600 accumulated as described above, and selects only the results that match the line ID 214 extracted from the plan information 200, the train type, the number of trains, and the boarding station ID 212 and the boarding section distinguished by the disembarking station ID 212 (S1002).

Furthermore, the power consumption calculation unit 102 selects only the results for the temperature zone code that includes the temperature at the time of boarding for that section (S1003). Then, the power consumption calculation unit 102 uses the selected results to calculate the power consumption for a standard occupancy rate, for example, 50%. Generally, even if there are no passengers, a certain amount of power is required to run the vehicle, and the amount of power required increases as the number of passengers increases. For this reason, when comparing the power consumption of transportation services, the value will be lower for a higher occupancy rate because the fixed power consumed by the vehicle itself is divided.

Taking this into consideration, carbon dioxide emissions are calculated based on the power consumption at a standard occupancy rate. To calculate the power consumption at the standard occupancy rate, if a power consumption calculation formula is available as a vehicle specification, the actual data is applied to the formula to identify the parameters, a relationship formula between occupancy rate and power consumption is obtained, and the power consumption at a 50% occupancy rate is estimated (S1005). If there is no power consumption calculation formula, the power consumption at a 50% occupancy rate is estimated by linear interpolation (S1006).

The power supply share rate calculation process operation will be described with reference to FIG.
The power source share estimation unit 101 determines the power source share rate for each weather, temperature, and day of the week from the power source-specific power purchase record for the most recent certain period. This is because the output of renewable energy varies depending on the weather, temperature, and day of the week. In particular, in the case of solar power generation, the difference in generated power is more than double between sunny days and cloudy days. In addition, since the power demand of an ordinary household varies depending on the day of the week and temperature, the amount of surplus power sold at the household also varies. Therefore, the power source type 312, the trading amount per unit time, the trading start time 314, and the trading end time 315 for the power supplied to an arbitrary line are periodically (for example, once a week or once a month) obtained from the power management computer 6, and the weather 316 at the trading start time, the temperature 317 at the trading start time, and the day of the week 318 on which the transaction was performed are recorded as the power trading record 400 (S1101).

Here, the weather 316 at the start of trading is recorded as a code indicating the weather, such as sunny as 10, sunny with occasional cloudy as 15, cloudy as 20, cloudy with occasional rain as 25, rain as 30, rain with occasional snow as 35, and snow as 40. The temperature 317 at the start of trading is recorded as a temperature zone code in 5°C increments, for example, 0°C to 4°C as 00, and 5°C to 9°C as 05.

Next, the power source share estimation unit 101 obtains a predicted value of the power demand at the target date and time from the actual total trading volume for all power sources (S1102). Here, the predicted value of the power demand can be obtained based on the actual results using a time series prediction method such as ARIMA (Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average) or RNN (Recurrent Neural Network).

The power source share estimation unit 101 selects only the results for the most recent period from the power trading results 400 accumulated as described above, and selects only the results for the same day of the week and the same time period as the time of boarding the boarding section to be processed, that is, the time of the date and time 211 of the results whose action type 214 is departure, extracted from the plan information 200 (S1103). Then, the power source share estimation unit 101 further selects only the results whose weather code matches the time of the date and time 211 from the selected results (S1104). As a result, if there are multiple results with the corresponding weather code (S1105), only the results with similar temperature zone codes are selected from them, and the average of these is taken as the predicted value (S1106).

In this way, the power source share estimation unit 101 extracts records with similar conditions such as weather and temperature to the target date and time, and estimates the trading volume for each power source for the target date and time. The method shown in S1104 to S1106 is a method of selecting similar records by prioritizing weather over temperature, but is not limited to the above. For example, a method such as k-nearest neighbor method can be used to represent the weather code and temperature code of each record in a distributed manner such as (20, 25), calculate the Euclidean distance between the weather code and temperature code of the target date and the weather code and temperature code of the record, select records whose distance from the target date is less than a certain value as records with high similarity, and take the average of the trading volumes by power source of these records as a predicted value. The proportion of the trading volume of each power source to the power demand is then set as the power source share (S1107).

Furthermore, in general, when a fluctuating power source such as solar power generation is used, a stably supplied power source such as LNG thermal power generation is used as a backup. Therefore, when a fluctuating power source such as solar power generation is the main power source with the highest priority, the trading volume of solar power generation can be calculated first, and the trading volume relative to the power consumption of the target route and target section at the target date and time can be set as the ratio of the solar power source, and the remainder can be set as the ratio of the other power source with the second highest priority.

The power source share rate estimation unit 101 records the power source share rate 425 thus calculated together with the time zone code 421, weather code 422, temperature zone code 423, and day of the week 424 as the power source share rate 500. The emission calculation unit 104 calculates the carbon dioxide emission amount by referring to this power source share rate 500. However, since the trading power supplier changes over time and the trading volume by power source also changes, the power source share rate estimation unit 101 may calculate the power source share rate 500 each time the emission amount is calculated. In this manner, the carbon dioxide emission amount is calculated for an action plan that includes movement and facility use.

FIG. 12 shows an example of a route search screen 1200 displayed on the route and facility search unit 31 of the user terminal 3.
Screen 1200 displays guidance information 1221 for a carbon minimum route that has a smaller carbon dioxide emission amount, in addition to guidance information 1211 for a normal shortest route to the user, as a result of the carbon dioxide emission amount calculation.

For example, the shortest route guidance information 1211 indicates departing from station A, traveling 20 minutes on line X to arrive at station B, working at facility P, and then traveling 20 minutes on line X to return to station A.

On the other hand, the carbon minimum route guidance information 1221 suggests traveling 30 minutes on line Y to station D, working at facility Q, and then traveling 30 minutes on line Y to station A. In the carbon minimum route guidance information 1221, the travel distance is long, so the amount of emissions involved is large, but because the emissions from the conference center Q that is used are small, the carbon dioxide emissions of the entire action plan are smaller than those of the shortest route.

Guidance information 1211 and guidance information 1221 display the transport services and carbon dioxide emissions of the facilities to be used for each of these sections, and further display the maximum carbon dioxide emissions of these transport services and facilities in parentheses. By presenting the carbon dioxide emissions of the entire action plan and the amount of carbon dioxide emissions that can be reduced by adopting the action plan, guidance information 1211 and guidance information 1221 encourages the user to select a route with less carbon dioxide emissions.

The maximum carbon dioxide emissions here are the amounts of carbon dioxide emissions that would be emitted if all transportation and facilities were powered by the most widely used power sources, such as LNG thermal power plants, and the difference between this maximum amount and the amount of carbon dioxide emissions for the presented route represents the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

The route search screen 1200 is a screen for individuals to search for and select facilities such as offices and hotels and means of transportation, but as described in FIG. 7, in order for a company employee to determine a seminar venue and travel route, the employee can select a venue with a lower carbon dioxide emission by obtaining information similar to that on the route search screen 1200 about the seminar participants and calculating the total carbon dioxide emission and carbon dioxide emission reduction amount of all participants.

Figure 13 shows another example of a route search screen 1200 displayed on the route and facility search unit 31 of the user terminal 3. Here, screen 1200 is a search result display screen for transport means when transporting cargo, and includes display of guidance information 1231 for transport by truck to the user, as well as guidance information 1241 for carbon minimum routes using rail freight transport.

Here, the guidance information 1231 for truck transport is for nighttime transport, whereas the guidance information 1241 for carbon minimum routes suggests daytime transport using solar-powered rail freight transport to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. In this way, users can select a means of transport and the timing of transport that produces less carbon dioxide emissions.

Figure 14 shows an example of a screen 1300 on which the performance management unit 41 of the performance management computer 4 confirms the amount of carbon dioxide emission reductions.

The performance management screen 1300 has input fields for inputting the department and period as conditions for checking performance. The manager inputs conditions from the input section for the items on screen 1300 displayed on the performance display screen provided by the performance management unit 41. The performance management unit 41 then displays the amount of carbon dioxide reduction for the conditions of the items entered.

Furthermore, the performance management unit 41 displays the percentage of the department in the total carbon dioxide emission reduction for the entire company. Since it is expected that emissions will increase if an organization is active, this screen visualizes the reduction amount rather than the emissions for each organization, which makes it possible to encourage corporate activity while encouraging reduction efforts.

Furthermore, the performance management unit 41 can convert the reduced carbon dioxide emissions into the company's currency according to a predetermined rate and award it to the department, thereby encouraging the department to make reduction efforts. Screen 1300 displays the points earned for the current month after conversion into the company's currency, and the accumulated points earned.

In this way, in the above embodiment, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted in relation to travel routes and facilities is calculated based on the amount of power consumed by the vehicle and the facility, and the dynamically changing energy source of the electricity, and is provided as guidance information.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the total carbon dioxide emissions, including the means of transportation and actions at the destination, are calculated, and actions with a lower environmental impact are recommended. For example, rather than working at home, which is powered by thermal energy, with the air conditioning turned on, an employee is encouraged to travel and work at a location and time that allows them to use renewable energy. If holding a meeting in a conference room powered by renewable energy, even if it is a little further away, results in fewer emissions than holding it in a company building that is powered by thermal energy, the use of the conference room is suggested.

According to the above embodiment, it is possible to present values that are closer to the actual amount of emissions associated with travel and facility use depending on the line, train type, and time of day. This makes it possible to show users the appropriateness of charges and point allocations, and to guide them to use services that produce lower emissions, or services on days and times when emissions are lower.

As described above, according to the above embodiment, the operation record, power consumption record, and power trading record can be used to accurately calculate the carbon dioxide emissions of transportation services, taking into account the supply of renewable energy, which varies with weather and temperature. This makes it possible to present values that are closer to the actual amount of emissions associated with travel and facility use, depending on the route, train type, and time of day. Furthermore, this makes it possible to show users the appropriateness of charges and point allocations, and to guide them to use services that produce lower emissions, or services on days and times when emissions are lower.

The above examples are examples of people moving and facilities being used, but the disclosed technology can also be applied to the transportation of goods. When transporting goods, it is possible to reduce emissions by selecting a time period when a low-emission power source can be used.

In addition, while the above embodiment deals with calculating carbon dioxide emissions, the disclosed technology can also be applied to the calculation of resource usage and reduction amounts.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be implemented in various modified forms. For example, the configuration of each database in the above embodiment is merely an example, and some data may not be registered, or other related data may be added and registered.

In addition, in the guidance information providing system of the above embodiment, the functions of the guidance providing computer 2, the performance management computer 4, and the movement performance management computer 5 are each configured separately from the emission calculation computer 1, but in other examples, some or all of the functions of these computers 3, 4, and 5 may be configured to be provided in the emission calculation computer 1. It can also be understood as a carbon dioxide emission calculation program, and a guidance information providing program executed by the above guidance information providing system.

1 Emission amount calculation computer 3 User terminal 4 Performance management computer 5 Operation management computer 9 Network 11 Storage device 12 Processing device 13 Communication device 20 Guidance program 21 Route/facility search unit 22 Settlement unit 31 Route/facility search unit 100 Emission amount calculation program 101 Power source share rate estimation unit 102 Power consumption calculation unit 104 Emission amount calculation unit 105 Reduction amount calculation unit 110 Database 400 Power trading performance 500 Power source share rate 600 Operation/power consumption performance 700 Emission amount by power source 900 Emission performance/reduction performance

Claims (15)

An environmental load calculation device that calculates an environmental load related to the movement of users of a transportation facility using a computer having a processing unit and a storage unit,
a power consumption calculation unit that calculates power consumption related to a travel route using operation records and power consumption records of the transportation facility over a certain period of time;
a power source share estimation unit that estimates a power source share rate based on weather or temperature using the power trading record;
an emission calculation unit that calculates a carbon dioxide emission amount related to the travel route searched by the user based on the power consumption and the power source share rate;
a reduction amount calculation unit that calculates a reduction amount of the carbon dioxide emission based on the carbon dioxide emission amount;
An environmental load calculation device comprising: The power consumption calculation unit
2. The environmental load calculation device according to claim 1, wherein the power consumption in a case where the passenger load factor is constant is calculated for an arbitrary section of an arbitrary line by using the operation record and the power consumption record. The power consumption calculation unit
Calculating the power consumption of an arbitrary route and section using the transportation facility as the power consumption related to the travel route;
The emission calculation unit is
2. The environmental load calculation device according to claim 1, wherein the carbon dioxide emission amount is calculated for each power source, the carbon dioxide emission amount is summed up for each power source, and the carbon dioxide emission amount for the section is calculated. The power supply share rate estimation unit is
2. The environmental load calculation device according to claim 1, wherein the power source share rate at the time when the transportation facility is traveling is estimated using the power purchase record of a transportation business operator as the power trading record. The reduction amount calculation unit
2. The environmental load calculation device according to claim 1, wherein the reduction amount is calculated by finding a difference between the calculated carbon dioxide emission amount and the carbon dioxide emission amount of another transportation service. The environmental load calculation device comprises:
Calculating the environmental load related to the movement of the users of the transportation facility as well as the environmental load related to the facilities used by the users;
The power consumption calculation unit
calculating an overall power consumption of the action plan including the power consumption related to the travel route and the power consumption related to the facility, for the entire action plan including the movement of the user of the transportation facility and facility information of the facility used by the user, using the operation record of the transportation facility and the power consumption record of the facility;
The emission calculation unit is
The environmental load calculation device according to claim 1, characterized in that the carbon dioxide emissions related to the entire action plan, including the travel route and the facility information searched by the user, are calculated using the entire power consumption of the action plan. The action plan includes:
7. The environmental load calculation device according to claim 6, wherein the travel route and facility information searched by the user are arranged in chronological order of use and are provided as action guidance to the user. A guidance information providing system that provides route guidance information to users of transportation facilities using electronic media,
a first computer that calculates an environmental load related to the movement of the user;
a second computer that provides the route guidance information to a user terminal held by the user based on the environmental load calculated by the first computer;
The first computer includes:
An environmental load calculation device that calculates an environmental load related to the movement of the user of the transportation facility using a computer having a processing unit and a storage unit,
a power consumption calculation unit that calculates power consumption related to a travel route using operation records and power consumption records of the transportation facility over a certain period of time;
an electricity share rate estimation unit that estimates an electricity source share rate based on weather or temperature using an electricity trading record;
an emission calculation unit that calculates a carbon dioxide emission amount related to the travel route searched by the user based on the power consumption and the power source share rate;
a reduction amount calculation unit that calculates a reduction amount of the carbon dioxide emission based on the carbon dioxide emission amount;
having
The second computer includes:
a route facility search unit that searches for the travel route according to conditions input by the user and provides the user with the route guidance information;
The route facility search unit
inquiring the first computer about the environmental load related to the searched travel route;
a route guidance information providing unit that transmits the carbon dioxide emission amount calculated by the emission calculation unit of the first computer to the user terminal; The first computer includes:
Calculating the environmental load related to the movement of the users of the transportation facility as well as the environmental load related to the facilities used by the users;
The power consumption calculation unit
calculating an overall power consumption of the action plan including the power consumption related to the travel route and the power consumption related to the facility, for the entire action plan including the movement of the user of the transportation facility and facility information of the facility used by the user, using the operation record of the transportation facility and the power consumption record of the facility;
The emission calculation unit is
Calculating the carbon dioxide emission amount for the entire action plan including the travel route and the facility information searched by the user using the overall power consumption of the action plan;
The route facility search unit of the second computer
Searching for the travel route and the facility information according to the conditions input by the user;
inquiring of the first computer about the environmental loads related to the searched travel route and the environmental loads related to the facility information;
The guidance information providing system according to claim 8, characterized in that the route guidance information including the carbon dioxide emissions relating to the entire action plan calculated by the emission calculation unit of the first computer is sent to the user terminal. The user terminal includes:
The guidance information providing system according to claim 9 , wherein the route guidance information including the carbon dioxide emission amount related to the entire action plan is displayed for each of the travel routes and each of the facilities. The action plan includes:
The guidance information providing system according to claim 9, characterized in that the travel route and facility information searched by the user are arranged in chronological order of use, and are provided as action guidance to the user. The power consumption calculation unit of the first computer
9. The guidance information providing system according to claim 8, wherein the power consumption in the case of a certain passenger occupancy rate is calculated for an arbitrary section of an arbitrary route by using the operation record and the power consumption record. The second computer includes:
The guidance information providing system according to claim 8, further comprising a settlement unit which acquires boarding and alighting information of the user boarding and alighting from the means of transport using the electronic medium, and handles billing and payment of fares on behalf of the user. a third computer operated by the enterprise;
The third computer comprises:
The guidance information providing system according to claim 9, further comprising a performance management unit that verifies the carbon dioxide emissions relating to the travel or use of the facilities carried out by an employee as part of the company's activities and converts the emissions into an in-company currency that can be used in the organization to which the employee belongs. An environmental load calculation method and apparatus for calculating an environmental load related to the movement of users of a transportation facility using a computer having a processing unit and a storage unit, comprising:
A power consumption calculation step of calculating power consumption related to a travel route using operation records and power consumption records of the transportation facility over a certain period of time;
an electricity share rate estimation step of estimating an electricity share rate based on weather or temperature using an electricity trading record;
an emission calculation step of calculating a carbon dioxide emission amount related to the travel route searched by the user based on the power consumption and the power source share rate;
A reduction amount calculation step of calculating a reduction amount of the carbon dioxide emission based on the carbon dioxide emission amount;
1. A method for calculating an environmental load comprising the steps of:

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