At Nissan factories, "setsuden", or energy-saving activities are intended to conserve power use in the peak summer months, with measures including spreading out shift work to ease midday electricity demand and installing smart-meters to help plant managers regulate power use.
Office staffers are also chipping in, as the new Saturday through Wednesday schedule means starting and leaving earlier. At Nissan's Yokohama headquarters, lighting and air conditioning systems, used sparingly since the earthquake, now promptly shut down at 6:30 p.m. on nearly all floors.
For now, though, the challenge remains to keep Japan's factories running, and just not at times of peak energy demand. Unfortunately, nearly four months after the disaster, the possibility of limited energy blackouts outside of Tokyo is still a very real possibility.
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