Smart MELIT (Toyota - Japan)
Started in 2010, Smart MELIT (acronym for Smart Mobility and Energy Life In Toyota) is Toyota City’s low carbon society verification project that aims to reduce carbon emissions and promote a healthy environment for people and vehicles to coexist. Energy use is reduced in residential, commercial and public buildings, and sustainable urban transportation is facilitated.
In the households, a glimpse of the future home environment was possible through the implementation of renewable energy solutions and storage devices that save energy. Concerning the urban mobility scope of the project, a series of state-of-the-art low carbon vehicles were introduced, and the necessary network of charging infrastructures.
Building and Home Energy Management Systems (BEMS and HEMS) were implemented in 227 detached houses (including 67 newly-built smart houses) to control the power transfer patterns of several household devices, allowing residents to optimise their energy use and achieve a low carbon lifestyle. Citizens received incentives to consume energy in a smarter manner, tracking and controlling their energy usage in terminal services installed in their house.
The Smart MELIT project also includes a smart integration centre (Toyota Smart Centre) that manages energy consumption and production and monitors urban traffic conditions. Big data is collected by a Vehicle Data Management System (VDMS), a Traffic Data Management System (TDMS), and an Energy Data Management System (EDMS), and an Intelligent Transportation System uses the data collected from the TDMS to inform about car sharing, on-demand public transport, parking and driving options to improve traffic flow. Battery charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs), green energy production systems (such as photovoltaic panels, biomass, and recycled heat), and energy storage systems that allow the use of green energy produced by households in EVs were also deployed and are integrated in the Toyota Smart Centre.
Data collected in the households with an HEMS, in the period from September 2011 to March 2015, shows an average reduction of 49.1% of CO2 emissions, and a maximum reduction of 64.9%. Customers also became more aware of the price differences in multi-tariff models of electricity provision, adapting their energy usage to cheaper time periods. The Intelligent Transportation System registered a decrease of 180 kg of CO2 per year and per person.
Sources:
http://eu-smartcities.eu/sites/default/files/2017-10/SCC%20Solution%2080%20Best%20Practice%20Examples.pdf (pages 150 to 153)
Improved Energy management;
Improved Intelligent Transport Systems.
Description of the specific objectives:
- Develop a low carbon society;
- Ensure a harmonious and healthy coexistence of people and vehicles.
Project consortium comprising 50 organisations. Main partners: Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Toyota City; Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota Motor Corporation, SHARP, TOSHIBA, etc.).