- Efforts to achieve NEC's environmental business vision
- A world first: New technology to eliminate the need for standby power in ICT equipment
- Plastic Made from Straw and Nut Shells
- Obayashi Corporation
- A bioplastic with a biomass ratio of more than 75%
- Optimizing Power and Space with ECO CENTER
- Observing Greenhouse Gases Around the Earth from Space
- Monitoring the forests from space
- High-Performance Workplaces
- e-Learning
Advanced Land Observing Satellite developed by NEC is monitoring the Earth's environment.
Forests do more than just absorb CO2
Deforestation invites global warming
Forests currently cover about 30% of the worlds land area, but the destruction of these forests has become a serious problem. It is a well known fact that when forest area decreases, the volume of CO2 absorbed also decreases, but not very many people know that the volume of CO2 emissions increases as well.
In fact, CO2 is generated when trees are cut, when they are processed, and also when they are burned.
According to one estimate, about three tons of CO2 is generated for every ton of tress cut. Consumption of fossil fuels accounts for 80% of the CO2 generated by human activities, but it is estimated that 20% is caused by the destruction of forests (The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report). Even when trees fall as a result of natural disasters, those trees eventually rot, generating methane gas that contributes to global warming. Deforestation contributes to an acceleration of global warming.
Expectations for forest observation using satellites
In the face of these problems, there has been an increase in international activities aimed at stemming the destruction and deterioration of forests. As part of these activities, because entire forests are difficult to see from the ground, some countries have begun using satellites to monitor the condition of forests from space, and clamping down on illegal logging, which is on the increase.
The Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) "Daichi," developed by NEC, uses a synthetic aperture radar that can see through clouds to make frequent observations of forests in tropical regions that were difficult to see in the past due to cloud cover. Daichi is gaining worldwide attention as a global forest observation system.
