I participated in the EVS-13 which was held on October 13-16 in Osaka, We had an exhibition booth of Ogata-mura itself and entered in the poster session.

Some people said, "Why are solar car races held in Ogata-mura?", "You do succeed in promoting the village vitality through the solar events."

From my viewpoint, I feel repelled by such remarks.Is it wrong that 'Ogata-mura' holds solar car races? We do not organize the races only for the promotion.

Although it is actually one of the important aims, basically we are going to bring forward the environmental problem getting worse and worse.

Don't you forget that?

In a few hundreds million years, the fossil fuel had been made from plants which absorbed solar power and from animals which fed them, Take a look at Ogata-mura from the sky. Doesn't it look like a land covered completely by solar panels ?

During about six months, Ogata-mura absorbs the energy of the sun and converts it into rice for human life. Just like a "Solar Panel".

View of Ogata-mura.

Poster session, EVS-13

The Existence of the Ogata Solar Sports Line
as an R&D Testing Field

Tsutomu TANI
Deputy Mayor, Ogata-mura
Chuo 1-1, Ogata-mura, Akita Pref., Japan 010-04
Tel. +81-185-45-2111, Fax +81-185-45-2162
E-mail: wsr@ogata.or.jp
Homepage address: http://www.ogata.or.jp/

ABSTRACT: The Ogata Solar Sports Line was opened in the spring of 1994 as the world's first course designed especially for clean energy sport contests. The course consists of a 7-meter wide, paved track over level terrain and totals 31.256 km in length. At the time of its opening, it was the first course in the world to receive international recognition from the International Solar Car Federation; soon afterward, the Japan Amateur Athletic Federation recognized it as a long-distance running course, and in 1995 it was recognized by the Japan Cycling Federation as a bicycle road race course. This paper will introduce the significance of its existence.

1. INTRODUCTION

Once it was recognized that carbon dioxide causes global warming, air pollution in big cities and acid rain, all sorts of organizations in various fields, from government to grass roots level, have tried to come up with viable solutions for these problems.

One of these solutions may be found in solar car racing, which can be considered a Research and Development project in the use of solar energy for human transportation.

Since the Australian adventurer Hans Tholstrup organized the first successful north-south crossing of the Australian continent by solar car - a distance of 3,000 km - in the World Solar Challenge of 1987, it was natural that people all over the world would sympathize with the purpose of the event or become interested in participating.

The event that triggered widespread interest in solar car racing in Japan was the "Solar Car Rally in Noto," which was held in August 1992 in Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, as the main event of the "Grand Solar Challenge," a 2-year educational campaign initiated by the Ministry of Trade and Industry to foster a greater awareness of the need for clean energy. The Noto Rally saw the birth of more than 100 solar car teams.

Japan had at once become the country with the largest number of solar cars in the world, with both the software (symposiums, forums) and the hardware(solar races featuring mainly cars) for the activities organized during the "Grand Solar Challenge," which earned praise and interest as an internationally unprecedented campaign that differed in many ways from the Solar Summit in Brazil.

2. OGATA-MURA, A NEW LAND

Ogata-mura is a new land, the result of the reclamation of the Hachirogata Lagoon (ca. 22,000 ha), then the second largest body of water in Japan. It was projected as a model for modern Japanese agriculture, establishing a high productivity and high income level for farmers living in a prosperous, comfortable, and modern farming community. In 1977, eleven years after the first wave of settlers moved onto the barely dry soil, the entire new land was under cultivation.

The true significance of the fact that reclamation made it possible to create 17,000 ha of fertile farming land was not lost on Japan, which has a high population but little arable land. But if one considers that all human beings are inhabitants of Planet Earth, this fact takes on an even greater importance.

3. SOLAR ENERGY AND FOOD

The food that human beings need to survive is produced in agricultural areas but is only distributed and consumed in densely populated areas like big cities after undergoing many forms of transportation.

Agricultural produce is also processed in various ways and reaches the marketplace in forms that vary from staple food to luxury products.

Because in a capitalist economy these processes are incorporated in the distribution system, produce consumes energy in all the stages of its distribution between the field where it was grown and the table at which it is eaten.

For example, in a modern state it takes 20 calories of energy to ascer tain that 1 calorie of produce reaches the consumer's table. That is precisely why it is said that the life style of human beings equals the consumption of energy.

Almost all of this energy is derived from fossil fuels, in other words, from energy that originated because for 3 billion years the sun poured out its heat over the surface of the earth. This energy now supports in a different shape the needs of modern man and his society.

4. SOLAR ENERGY AND RICE

Partly because Ogata-mura was born from a land reclamation project, many of its farmers are strongly conscious of the following.

Especially now that global warming continues unchecked, abnormal meteorological phenomena all over the world have caused a lower agricultural output in recent years, while at the same time there is a worldwide shortage of land suitable for agriculture. A fertile farm obtained by reclamation shoulders the broad responsibility for high productivity, especially in Japan. If for instance it can be calculated how much top-grade rice can be produced by the warmth of the sun and how much can be stored for the following year, it becomes possible to calculate the efficiency of energy input and output.

1. The average annual number of sunshine hours in Ogata-mura is shown in Table 1.
2. The general solar radiation energy from rice planting (early May) to rice harvest (early October) can be calculated as 6,978,000 kwh per 1 ha.
3. The average annual rice crop and energy stored per 1 ha is 5.8 t and 17,760 Mcal, in other words 20,655 kwh.
4. Because at this time all parts of the rice plant that are not used for consumption (leaves, stalks, roots, etc.) are dried and ploughed back into the soil as compost or are used as fuel for the boilers of the silos in which the rice is stored, the amount of energy derived from by-products can be calculated as 7,249 Mcal for 8.6 t, or 8,431 kwh per 1 ha.
5. To summarize, the general solar radiation energy for 1 ha is 6,978,000 kwh, resulting in an accumulated general energy of 20,655 kwh derived from rice; therefore, photosynthetic conversion occurring in rice plants and the accumulated energy efficiency in the unhulled rice grain together amount to 0.3 (0.296) %. In other words, it is possible to distinguish something resembling a solar electricity system that continues to generate and store electricity in year units.

5. SOLAR CARS

Recognizing that rice production relies on the effective use of clean energy, Ogata-mura embarked on organic rice cultivation and the establishment of an efficient know-how system, resulting in annual consignments of clean rice. This rice was given the brand name "Solar rice," for one thing because its growers wanted to communicate the significance of its production system to the consumer.

While this school of thought was gaining ground, there also was a growing awareness of the need for clean energy for transportation purposes. There were points in common between clean rice and clean-energy driven vehicles such as electric vehicles or solar cars, and because an investigation into a possible contribution by Ogata-mura towards their introduction indicated that the greatest problem for developers of cleanenergy driven vehicles was that they had no place to try out their cars, a track was designed that could be used for solar races but also for experiments in solar propulsion. This track became the Solar Sports Line.

6. THE SOLAR SPORTS LINE

The entire course of the Solar Sports Line is shown on Map 1.

The Ogata-mura Solar Sports Line is a paved multi-purpose sport track over level terrain with a total length of 31.256 km and a width of 7 m. Construction was begun in September 1993 and completed in March of the following year.

7. THE WORLD SOLAR CAR RALLYE IN AKITA

7.1. The First Rallye

In July 1993, a solar car race was held on a 35-km loop-course of agricultural roads around the village. This was the First World Solar Car Rallye in Ogata, but although it was the first one, the participants showed a high level of understanding of its purpose. With 55 solar cars from all over Japan taking part, the race was a tremendous success.

After the race, the participants expressed the following desires:

1. The race should be held every year, in the same season;
2. It should be held over a span of 3 days;
3. It should be held on the same course, with identical rules for all participants;
4. No other cars, or even people, should be allowed on the course.

This became the main reason for the construction of a special course.

7.2. The Second Rallye

The Second Rallye was held on the newly opened Solar Sports Line, and because Akita Prefecture had offered to award the winner with the Grand Solar Challenge Cup, the name of the event was changed to "World Solar Car Rallye in Akita."

No less than 70 participants signed up to try out their cars on the new Solar Sports Line.

7.3. The Third Rallye

After the success of the First and Second Rallyes, the other two big solar racing events registered with the International Solar Car Federation, the World Solar Challenge (Australia) and the Sunrayce (U.S.A.), suggested the organization of a Solar World Cup tournament that would travel around the Pacific Rim. The Third World Solar Car Rallye in Akita therefore became the "First Solar World Cup Tournament."

In 1996, the World Cup will be awarded after the World Solar Challenge in Australia, in 1997 after the Sunrayce in the U.S.A., and so back to Japan again.

8. RACING RESULTS

Table 2 shows the number of participants and the results of the past four Rallyes.

In these three years of solar car racing, a total of 205 cars competed for 9 days over an aggregate distance of slightly more than 104,000 km. If the distance to be covered during the Fourth Rallye this July is added, it is estimated that the 150,000 km barrier will be broken, and because this matches the distance that new models developed by car manufacturers must cover for their endurance test before they can be sold, this will be a point to watch.

Another way of putting it would be to say that the young engineers and many other people who are concerned about environmental and energy problems now have a place where they can carry out their racing experiments.

It is our hope that the Solar Sports Line will be instrumental in realizing the age of the clean energy car as soon as possible.