ノアの箱舟を創ろう Let us Create the Super Ocean-Floating-Structures such as the Noah's ark.

ノアの箱舟を創ろう Let us Create the Super Ocean - Floating - Structures such as the Noah's ark.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Democracy Now エコノミック・ヒットマンが語る恐るべき真実





Democrcy Now【エコノミック・ヒットマンが語る恐るべき真実】

【参考引用リンク】:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sS71C6oa8A

エコノミック・ヒットマン(経済の殺し屋)と呼ばれる仕事についていた米国人・ジョン・パーキンス氏が告白している動画があります。米国に刃向う指導者や、賄賂が効かない国家指導者にはジャッカルと呼ばれる殺し屋を派遣し、飛行機事故などを装って殺害している事や、ODAなどで貧しい国を開発する事を大義名分にし、借金まみれにして植民地化してしまうという告白もしています。一部分だけでも見てほしい動画なので、うpしました。
(続き)(一部表示)

所有者: poipoiBoo 追加済み: 2009年06月06日 09時07分54秒 時間: 9:59 再生回数: 533 評価: コメント数: 0 削除 再生

Energy Island
The Energy Island, a joint venture lead by Dominic Michaelis, draws on the broad range of research activities being conducted across the University of Southampton in a number of specialist research groups. A virtual team, collaborating with industry and academics internationally is working towards the goal of a floating energy island capable of delivering gigawatt levels of energy from renewable sources. The modular structure of the Energy Island permits scaling and adaptation to suit a variety of different locations, climates and demands while facilitating economic feasibility through shared infrastructure, volume production and low operating costs. The flexibility of siting offered by a floating platform also offers a critical advantage to the more densely populated countries such as the United Kingdom where obtaining environmentally and socially acceptable locations for the siting of large renewable energy capture installations is a major hurdle for any new development.
【私のコメント】
 【資源獲得の権利を確保する目的のために、アメリカの資源開発関係の大企業等の運動資金とその雇用された秘密工作員(John Perkins)氏によって、自国の政府要人達と共謀し、外国の要人達を裏面工作したり、懐柔したり、都合悪ければ、脅したり、場合により、暗殺を実行してきた。】という元秘密工作員の告白の証言・出演の動画である。
 
 
このような資源の争奪のために、大企業の徹底したアクドサは、正に悪魔的である。
このような状況は、暗殺までは、行うことが成されないであろうが、似たような手段で、

米国だけに限らず、日本を含め、欧米諸国においても、大なり、小なりの似たようなことが行われて来ているのであろう。

 このような大企業による社会や国家や世界の人々の悪魔的な撹乱は、国際社会の中で、許されてはならないのである、
   このような、横暴と傲慢が行われるならば、ことの成り行きによっては、戦争を引起すことになるのである。

 我々の社会を安定させるためには、このようなことをしないで、相互に、共益的な利益になる方法や
方策 を生み出して行かなければならないのである。

 前途は、長く、険しい道であるが、世界の人たちが、真実を知るようになれば、このような方向に、向かうように努力が成されることになるでしょう。

 この番組で、出演し証言したかっての秘密工作員(John Perkins )は、その良心と勇気を呼び起すことで、この番組に出演し、公表されたのである。
 

この人は、その公表をさせまいとする勢力から、暗殺される恐れもあったのである。

 この人の社会や世間に対して、真実を伝えるための勇気には、我々は、感謝をしなければならないでしょう。

是非、御観照されて、世界の大企業の活動によって、世界に繰り広げられる裏舞台の実情を認識することができるでしょう。 ご推奨致します。
 
 【参考】;

 この動画・映像は、2年前に、TV番組(朝日ニュースター)で放送されたものと同じである。
 上記に記したTV番組【朝日ニュースター)の当時のこの番組の女性のコメンテターであった菊池女子が、その後において、この番組を降り、他の人に交代した理由についても、深い謎が秘められているようである。
 菊池氏のコメントに対して、どこからか、圧力が加えられた可能性に対する疑念が湧いてくるのである。

ーーーーーーーー      ーーーーー

【私のコメント終わり】以上の通り。

【参考リンク1】: 植草一秀の『知られざる真実』
  http://uekusak.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2008/07/post_ec32.html
ーーーーーーーーーーーーー   ーーーーーーーーー   ーーーーーー
【出展引用リンク1】: 【English編  日本語字幕編 : 後編部抜粋編集版 】 :Youtubu :

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sS71C6oa8A&feature=related
 
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sS71C6oa8A





【English編リンク2】:

【John Perkins on “The Secret History of the American Empire: Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and the Truth about Global Corruption” 】



 http://www.democracynow.org/2007/6/5/john_perkins_on_the_secret_history


【English編リンク2】引用始め:以下の通り。ーーーーー
ーーーーーーーーーーー    ーーーーーーーーー    ーーーーーー
John Perkins on “The Secret History of the American Empire: Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and the Truth about Global Corruption”
Today, we spend the hour with a man who claims to have worked deep inside the forces driving corporate globalization. In his first book, “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man”, John Perkins told the story of his work as a highly paid consultant hired to strong-arm leaders into creating policy favorable to the U.S. government and corporations—what he calls the “corporatocracy.” John Perkins has just come out with a new book. It’s called “The Secret History of the American Empire: Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and the Truth about Global Corruption.” [includes rush transcript]

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Hundreds of thousands of protesters are gathering in Germany ahead of tomorrow’s G8 meeting of the world’s richest nations. The three-day summit is being held in the coastal resort of Heiligendamm. German police have spent $18 million dollars to erect an eight-mile-long, two-meter-high fence around the meeting site. Global warming will be high on the agenda. Going into the meeting, President Bush has proposed to sideline the UN-backed Kyoto Accords and set voluntary targets on reducing emissions of greenhouse gas. Other top issues will include foreign aid and new trade deals.

Today, we spend the hour with a man who claims to have worked deep inside the forces driving corporate globalization. In his first book, “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man”, John Perkins told the story of his work as a highly paid consultant hired to strong-arm leaders into creating policy favorable to the U.S. government and corporations—what he calls the “corporatocracy.” Perkins says he helped the U.S. cheat poor countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars by lending them more money than they could possibly repay and then taking over their economies.

John Perkins has just come out with a new book. It’s called “The Secret History of the American Empire: Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and the Truth about Global Corruption.” John Perkins joins me now in the firehouse studio.

•John Perkins, From 1971 to 1981 he worked for the international consulting firm of Chas T. Main where he was a self-described “economic hit man.” He is the author of the new book “The Secret History of the American Empire.”
Rush Transcript
This transcript is available free of charge. However, donations help us provide closed captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing on our TV broadcast. Thank you for your generous contribution.
Donate - $25, $50, $100, More...
AMY GOODMAN: Hundreds of thousands of protesters are gathering in Germany ahead of tomorrow’s G8 meeting of the world’s richest nations. The three-day summit is being held in the coastal resort of Heiligendamm. German police have spent $18 million to erect an eight-mile-long, two-meter-high fence around the meeting site.

Global warming will be high on the agenda. Going into the meeting, President Bush has proposed to sideline the UN-backed Kyoto Accords and set voluntary targets on reducing emissions of greenhouse gas. Other top issues will include foreign aid and new trade deals.

Today, we spend the hour with a man who claims to have worked deep inside the forces driving corporate globalization. In his first book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, John Perkins told the story of his work as a highly paid consultant hired to strong-arm leaders into creating policy favorable to the US government and corporations, what he calls the “corporatocracy.” John Perkins says he helped the US cheat poor countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars by lending them more money than they could possibly repay and then taking over their economies. John Perkins has just come out with his second book on this issue. It’s called The Secret History of the American Empire: Economic Hit Men, Jackals and the Truth about Global Corruption. John Perkins joins us now in the firehouse studio. Welcome to Democracy Now!

JOHN PERKINS: Thank you, Amy. It’s great to be here.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, before we go further, “economic hit men”—for those who haven’t heard you describe this, let alone describe yourself as this, what do you mean?

JOHN PERKINS: Well, really, I think it’s fair to say that since World War II, we economic hit men have managed to create the world’s first truly global empire, and we’ve done it primarily without the military, unlike other empires in history. We’ve done it through economics very subtly.

We work many different ways, but perhaps the most common one is that we will identify a third world country that has resources our corporations covet, such as oil, and then we arrange a huge loan to that country from the World Bank or one of its sister organizations. The money never actually goes to the country. It goes instead to US corporations, who build big infrastructure projects—power grids, industrial parks, harbors, highways—things that benefit a few very rich people but do not reach the poor at all. The poor aren’t connected to the power grids. They don’t have the skills to get jobs in industrial parks. But they and the whole country are left holding this huge debt, and it’s such a big bet that the country can’t possibly repay it. So at some point in time, we economic hit men go back to the country and say, “Look, you know, you owe us a lot of money. You can’t pay your debt, so you’ve got to give us a pound of flesh.”

AMY GOODMAN: And explain your history. What made you an economic hit man?

JOHN PERKINS: Well, when I graduated from business school at Boston University, I was recruited by the National Security Agency, the nation’s largest and perhaps most secretive spy organization.

AMY GOODMAN: People sometimes think the CIA is that, but the NSA, many times larger.

JOHN PERKINS: Yeah, it is larger. It’s much larger. At least it was in those days. And it’s very, very secretive. We all—there’s a lot of rumors. We know quite a lot about the CIA, I think, but we know very, very little about the NSA. It claims to only work in a cryptography, you know, encoding and decoding messages, but in fact we all know that they’re the people who have been listening in on our telephone conversations. That’s come out recently. And they’re a very, very secretive organization.

They put me through a series of tests, very extensive tests, lie detector tests, psychological tests, during my last year in college. And I think it’s fair to say that they identified me as a good potential economic hit man. They also identified a number of weaknesses in my character that would make it relatively easy for them to hook me, to bring me in. And I think those weaknesses, I [inaudible] might call, the three big drugs of our culture: money, power and sex. Who amongst us doesn’t have one of them? I had all three at the time.

And then I joined the Peace Corps. I was encouraged to do that by the National Security Agency. I spent three years in Ecuador living with indigenous people in the Amazon and the Andes, people who today and at that time were beginning to fight the oil companies. In fact, the largest environmental lawsuit in the history of the world has just been brought by these people against Texaco, Chevron. And that was incredibly good training for what I was to do.

And then, while I was still in the Peace Corps, I was brought in and recruited into a US private corporation called Charles T. Main, a consulting firm out of Boston of about 2,000 employees, very low-profile firm that did a tremendous amount of work of what I came to understand was the work of economic hit men, as I described it earlier, and that’s the role I began to fulfill and eventually kind of rose to the top of that organization as its chief economist.

AMY GOODMAN: And how did that tie to the NSA? Was there a connection?

JOHN PERKINS: You know, that’s what’s very interesting about this whole system, Amy, is that there’s no direct connection. The NSA had interviewed me, identified me and then essentially turned me over to this private corporation. It’s a very subtle and very smart system, whereby it’s the private industry that goes out and does this work. So if we’re caught doing something, if we’re caught bribing or corrupting local officials in some country, it’s blamed on private industry, not on the US government.

And it’s interesting that in the few instances when economic hit men fail, what we call “the jackals,” who are people who come in to overthrow governments or assassinate their leaders, also come out of private industry. These are not CIA employees. We all have this image of the 007, the government agent hired to kill, you know, with license to kill, but these days the government agents, in my experience, don’t do that. It’s done by private consultants that are brought in to do this work. And I’ve known a number of these individuals personally and still do.

AMY GOODMAN: In your book, The Secret History of the American Empire, you talk about taking on global power at every level. Right now, we’re seeing these mass protests taking place in Germany ahead of the G8 meeting. Talk about the significance of these.

JOHN PERKINS: Well, I think it’s extremely significant. Something is happening in the world today, which is very, very important. Yeah, as we watched the headlines this morning, you know, what we can absolutely say is we live in a very dangerous world. It’s also a very small world, where we’re able to immediately know what’s going on in Germany or in the middle of the Amazon or anywhere else. And we’re beginning to finally understand around the world, I think, that the only way my children or grandchildren or any child or grandchild anywhere on this planet is going to be able to have a peaceful, stable and sustainable world is if every child has that. The G8 hasn’t got that yet.

AMY GOODMAN: Explain what the Group of Eight are.

JOHN PERKINS: Well, the Group of Eight are the wealthiest countries in the world, and basically they run the world. And the leader is the United States, and it’s actually the corporations within these companies—countries, excuse me—that run it. It’s not the governments, because, after all, the governments serve at the pleasure of the corporations. In our own country, we know that the next two final presidential candidates, Republican and Democrat alike, are going to each have to raise something like half a billion dollars. And that’s not going to come from me and you. Primarily that’s going to come from the people who own and run our big corporations. They’re totally beholden to the government. So the G8 really is this group of countries that represent the biggest multinational corporations in the world and really serve at their behest.

And what we’re seeing now in Europe—and we’re seeing it very strongly in Latin America, we’re seeing it in the Middle East—we’re seeing this huge undercurrent of resistance, of protest, against this empire that’s been built out of this. And it’s been such a subtle empire that people haven’t been aware of it, because it wasn’t built by the military. It was built by economic hit men. Most of us aren’t aware of it. Most Americans have no idea that these incredible lifestyles that we all lead are because we’re part of a very vicious empire that literally enslaves people around the world, misuses people. But we’re beginning to understand this. And the Europeans and the Latin Americans are at the forefront of this understanding.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, we’re going to talk to you about Congo, about Lebanon, about the Middle East, about Latin America, much of what you cover in The Secret History of the American Empire, when we come back.

[break]

AMY GOODMAN: Our guest is John Perkins. From 1971 to ‘81, he worked for the international consulting firm of Charles T. Main, where he was a self-described “economic hit man.” His new book is called The Secret History of the American Empire: Economic Hit Men, Jackals and the Truth about Global Corruption. Let’s talk back, going to Latin America, about this ChevronTexaco lawsuit.

JOHN PERKINS: Well, that’s extremely significant. When I was sent to Ecuador as a Peace Corps volunteer in 1968, Texaco had just gone into Ecuador, and the promise to the Ecuadorian people at that time from Texaco and their own politicians and the World Bank was oil is going to pull this country out of poverty. And people believed it. I believed it at the time. The exact opposite has happened. Oil has made the country much more impoverished, while Texaco has made fortunes off this. It’s also destroyed vast areas of the Amazon rainforest.

So the lawsuit today that’s being brought by a New York lawyer and some Ecuadorian lawyers—Steve Donziger here in New York—is for $6 billion, the largest environmental lawsuit in the history of the world, in the name of 30,000 Ecuadorian people against Texaco, which is now owned by Chevron, for dumping over eighteen billion gallons of toxic waste into the Ecuadorian rainforest. That’s thirty times more than the Exxon Valdez. And dozens and dozens of people have died and are continuing to die of cancer and other pollution-related diseases in this area of the Amazon. So all this oil has come out of this area, and it’s the poorest area of one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere. And the irony of that is just so amazing.

But what I think—one of the really significant things about this, Amy, is that this law firm has taken this on, not pro bono, but they expect if they win the case, which they expect to do, to make a lot of money off of it, which is a philosophical decision. It isn’t because they wanted to get rich off this. It’s because they want to encourage other law firms to do similar things in Nigeria and in Indonesia and in Bolivia, in Venezuela and many other places. So they want to see a business grow out of this, of law firms going in and defending poor people, knowing that they can get a payoff from the big companies who have acted so terribly, terribly, terribly irresponsibly in the past.

And Steve Donziger, the attorney—I was in Ecuador with him just two weeks ago—and one of the very touching things he said is—he’s an American attorney with, you know, very good credentials, and he says, “You know, I’ve seen a lot of companies make mistakes and then try to defend themselves in law courts.” And he said, “That’s one thing. But in this case, Texaco didn’t make mistakes. This was done with intent. They knew what they were doing. To save a few bucks, they killed a lot of people.” And now they’re going to be forced to pay for that, to take responsibility for that, and hopefully open the door to make many companies take responsibility for the wanton destruction that’s occurred.

AMY GOODMAN: Let’s talk about Latin America and its leaders, like Jaime Roldos. Talk about him and his significance. You wrote about him in your first book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.

JOHN PERKINS: Yeah, Jaime Roldos was an amazing man. After many years of military dictators in Ecuador, US puppet dictators, there was a democratic election, and one man, Jaime Roldos, ran on a platform that said Ecuadorian resources ought to be used to help the Ecuadorian people, and specifically oil, which at that time was just coming in. This was in the late ’70s. And I was sent to Ecuador, and I was also sent at the same time to Panama to work with Omar Torrijos, to bring these men around, to corrupt them, basically, to change their minds.

You know, in the case of Jaime Roldos, he won the election by a landslide, and now he started to put into action his policy, his promises, and was going to tax the oil companies. If they weren’t willing to give much more of their profits back to the Ecuadorian people, then he threatened to nationalize them. So I was sent down, along with other economic hit men—I played a fairly minor role in that case and a major one in Panama with Torrijos—but we were sent into these countries to get these men to change their policies, to go against their own campaign promises. And basically what you do is you tell them, “Look, you know, if you play our game, I can make you and your family very healthy. I can make sure that you get very rich. If you don’t play our game, if you follow your campaign promises, you may go the way of Allende in Chile or Arbenz in Guatemala or Lumumba in the Congo.” On and on, we can list all these presidents that we’ve either overthrown or assassinated because they didn’t play our game. But Jaime would not come around, Jaime Roldos. He stayed uncorruptible, as did Omar Torrijos.

And both of these—and from an economic hit man perspective, this was very disturbing, because not only did I know I was likely to fail at my job, but I knew that if I failed, something dire was going to happen: the jackals would come in, and they would either overthrow these men or assassinate them. And in both cases, these men were assassinated, I have no doubt. They died in airplane crashes two months apart from each other in 1981—single plane; their own private planes crashed.

AMY GOODMAN: Explain more what happened with Omar Torrijos.

JOHN PERKINS: Well, Omar, again, was very stalwartly standing up to the United States, demanding that the Panama Canal should be owned by Panamanians. And I spent a lot of time with Torrijos, and I liked him very, very much as an individual. He was extremely charismatic, extremely courageous and very nationalistic about wanting to get the best for his people. And I couldn’t corrupt him. I tried everything I could possibly do to bring him around. And as I was failing, I was also very concerned that something would happen to him. And sure enough—it was interesting that Jaime Roldos’s plane crashed in May, and Torrijos said—got his family together and said, “I’m probably next, but I’m ready to go. We’ve now got the Canal turned over.” He had signed a treaty with Jimmy Carter to get the Canal in Panamanian hands. He said, “I’ve accomplished my job, and I’m ready to go now.” And he had a dream about being in a plane that hit a mountain. And within two months after it happened to Roldos, it happened to Torrijos also.

AMY GOODMAN: And you met with both these men?

JOHN PERKINS: Yes, I’d met with both of them.

AMY GOODMAN: What were your conversations like?

JOHN PERKINS: Well, especially with Torrijos, I spent a lot of time with him in some formal meetings and also at cocktail parties and barbecues—he was big on things like that—and was constantly trying to get him to come around to our side and letting him know that if he did, he and his family would get some very lucrative contracts, would become very wealthy, and, you know, warning him. And he didn’t really need much warning, because he knew what would be likely to happen if he didn’t. And his attitude was, “I want to get done what I can in my lifetime, and then so be it.”

And it’s been interesting, Amy, that since I wrote the book Confessions, Marta Roldos, who’s Jaime’s daughter, has come to the United States to meet with me, and I just spent time with her in Ecuador. She is now a member of parliament in Ecuador, just elected, and she married Omar Torrijos’s nephew. And it’s really interesting to hear their stories about what was going on—she was seventeen at the time her parents—her mother was also in the plane that her father died in; the two of them died in that plane—and then to hear her talk about how her husband, Omar’s nephew, was in that meeting when the family was called together and Omar said, “I’m probably next, but I’m ready to go. I’ve done my job. I’ve done what I could do for my people. So I’m ready to go, if that’s what has to happen.”

AMY GOODMAN: So what were your conversations at the time with other so-called economic hit men? I mean, you became the chief consultant at Charles Main.

JOHN PERKINS: Chief economist.

AMY GOODMAN: Chief economist.

JOHN PERKINS: Right. Well, you know, when I was with other people that—we could be sitting at a table, say, in the Hotel Panama, knowing that we’re both here to win these guys over, but we also had our official jobs, which were to do studies on the economy, to show how if the country accepted the loan, it was going to improve its gross national product. We would talk about those kinds of things. It’s, I suspect, a little bit like if two CIA agents, spies, get together or have a beer together, they don’t really talk about what they’re really doing beneath the surface, but they’ve got an official job, too, and that’s what you focus on. And, in fact, the two, in my case, are very closely linked.

So we were producing these economic reports that would prove to the World Bank and would prove to Omar Torrijos that if he accepted these huge loans, then his country’s gross national product would just mushroom and pull his people out of poverty. And we produced these reports, which made sense from a mathematical econometric standpoint. And, in fact, it often happened that with these loans, the GNP, the gross national product, did increase.

But what also was true, and what Omar knew and Jaime Roldos knew and I was coming to know very strongly, was that even if the general economy increased, the poor people with these loans would get poorer. The rich would make all the money, because most of the poor people weren’t even tied into the gross national product. A lot of them didn’t even make income. They were living off subsistence farming. They benefited nothing, but they were left holding the debt, and because of these huge debts, their country in the long term would not be able to provide them with healthcare, education and other social services.

AMY GOODMAN: Talk about Congo.

JOHN PERKINS: Oh, boy. The whole story of Africa and the Congo is such a devastating and sad one. And it’s the hidden story, really. We in the United States don’t even talk about Africa. We don’t think about Africa. You know, Congo has something called coltan, which probably most of your listeners may not have even heard of, but every cell phone and laptop computer has coltan in it. And several million people in the last few years in the Congo have been killed over coltan, because you and I and all of us in the G8 countries demand low—or at least we want to see our computers inexpensive and our cell phones inexpensive. And, of course, the companies that make these sell them on that basis, that “Oh, here, mine’s $200 less than the other company.” But in order to do that, these people in the Congo are being enslaved. The miners, the people mining coltan, they’re being killed. There’s these vast wars going on to provide us with cheap coltan.

And I have to say, you know, if we want to live in a safe world, we need to be—we must be willing, and, in fact, we must demand that we pay higher prices for things like laptop computers and cell phones and that a good share of that money go back to the people who are mining the coltan. And that’s true of oil. It’s true of so many resources that we are not paying the true cost, and there’s millions of people around the world suffering from that. Roughly 50,000 people die every single day from hunger or hunger-related diseases and curable diseases that they don’t get the medicines for, simply because they’re part of a system that demands that they put in long hours, and they get very, very low pay, so we can have things cheaper in this country. And the Congo is an incredibly potent example of that.

AMY GOODMAN: You talk about the so-called defeats in Vietnam and Iraq and what they mean for corporations.

JOHN PERKINS: Yeah, well, that’s—yeah, we, you and I, look at them as defeats, perhaps, and certainly anybody who lost a child or a sibling or a spouse in these countries look at them as disasters, as defeats, but the corporations made a huge amount of money off Vietnam, the military industry, huge corporations, the construction companies. And, of course, they’re doing it in a very, very big way in Iraq. So the corporatocracy, the people that are in fact insisting that our young men and women continue to go to Iraq and fight, they’re making a tremendous amount of money. These are not failures for them; they’re successes from a very strong economic standpoint. And I know that sounds cynical. I am cynical about these things. I’ve been there. I’ve seen it. And, you know, we must learn not to put up with that anymore. All of us.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking to John Perkins. His book is The Secret History of the American Empire. It’s the fortieth anniversary of the 1967 Israeli-Arab war. You talk about Israel being a Fortress America in the Middle East.

JOHN PERKINS: I think it’s very sad and very telling, once again, that the Israeli people, for the most part, are led to believe that they’ve been given this land as a payoff, basically, for the Holocaust, because they deserve to be recompensed. And, of course, the Holocaust was terrible, and they do deserve to be taken care of and recompensed and have stability.

But why would we locate that place in the middle of the Arab world, their traditional enemies? Why would we locate that place in such an unstable area? It’s because it is serving as a huge fortress for us in the biggest oil fields known in the world today, and we knew this when Israel was located there. And I think the Israeli people have been terribly exploited in this process.

So, in fact, we built this vast military base, armed camp, in the middle of the Middle Eastern oil fields that are surrounded by the Arab communities, and in the process, we’ve obviously created a tremendous amount of resentment and anger and a situation that it’s very difficult to see any positive outcome there. But the fact of the matter is, our having this military base in Israel has been a huge defense for us. It’s been a place where we could really launch attacks, rely on. It’s been our equivalent of the Crusaders’ castles in the Middle East. And it’s very, very sad. I think it’s extremely sad for the Israeli people that they’re caught up in all of this. I think it’s extremely sad for the American people. It’s extremely sad for the world that this is going on.

AMY GOODMAN: As we crisscross the globe, John Perkins, which is exaclty what you did in your years as an international consultant, having been groomed by the National Security Agency, but then becoming a top economist in an international consulting firm, you have also written books about Shamanism. You also write about Tibet. Where does Tibet fit into this picture?

JOHN PERKINS: Well, you know, I was just in Tibet a couple of years ago, and it was an interesting thing, because I took a group of about thirty people into Tibet with me as part of a non-profit organization. I was leading the trip. And some of these people had been in the Amazon with me, been to other places. And, of course, Tibet right now is—it’s very depressing, because the Chinese presence is extremely strong, and you see how the Tibetan culture has been put down. And you’re always aware that there’s Chinese soldiers and spies all around you. And many of the people on the trip came to the realization, yeah, this terrible here. “Free Tibet,” we all know about that, but the ones who had been with me on a trip to the Amazon, where the oil companies and our own military are doing the same things, said, “But doesn’t this remind us of what we’re doing in so much of the world?” And it’s something we tend to forget.

We can all wave banners about “Free Tibet,” which we should, but how about freeing the countries that are under our thumb, too? And certainly Tibet is not nearly—well, I hate to say it this way, because some people might disagree with me, but I think Iraq is in worse shape than Tibet is these days, although both of them are in pretty bad shape. But so, what we saw in Tibet is that same kind of model that we’re implementing around the world. And yet, most Americans are not aware that we’re doing it. They’re aware that the Chinese are doing it, but not aware that we’re doing it on actually a much bigger level than the Chinese are.

AMY GOODMAN: John Perkins, talk about your transformation. You were making a lot of money. You were traveling the world. You were in a position where you were meeting presidents and prime ministers of countries, bringing them to their knees. What made you change, and then, ultimately, the decision to write about it?

JOHN PERKINS: You know, Amy, when I first got started—I grew up—three, four hundred years of Yankee Calvinism—in New Hampshire and Vermont, with very strong moral principles, came from a pretty conservative Republican family. And all during the ten years that I was an economic hit man, from ‘71 to ’81, I was pretty young, but it bothered my conscience. And yet, everybody was telling me I was doing the right thing. Like you said, presidents of countries, the president of the World Bank, Robert McNamara, patted me on the back. And I was asked to lecture at Harvard and many other places about what I was doing. And what I was doing was not illegal—should be, but it isn’t. And yet, in my heart, it always tore at my conscience. I’d been a Peace Corps volunteer. I saw. And as time went by and I began to understand more and more, it got to be more and more difficult for me to continue doing this. I had a staff of about four dozen people working for me. Things were building up.

And then, one day I was on vacation, sailing in the Virgin Islands, and I anchored my little boat off the St. John Island, and I took the dinghy in, and I climbed this mountain on St. John Island in the Virgin Islands up to this old sugar cane plantation in ruins. And it was beautiful. Bougainville. The sun was setting. I sat there and felt very peaceful. And then suddenly, I realized that this plantation had been built on the bones of thousands of slaves. And then I realized that the whole hemisphere had been built on the bones of millions of the slaves. And I got very angry and sad. And then, it suddenly struck me that I was continuing that same process and that I was a slaver, that I was making the same thing happen in a slightly—in a different way, more subtle way, but just as bad in terms of its outcome. And at that point, I made the decision I would never do it again. And I went back to Boston a couple of days later and quit.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking to John Perkins, worked for Chas Main International Consulting Firm, self-described “economic hit man,” now has written a new book called The Secret History of the American Empire. When we come back from break, we’ll talk about—well, from quitting the American empire to taking it on. Stay with us.

[break]

AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking to John Perkins. His second book on the issue of economic hit men is called The Secret History of the American Empire. John Perkins is a New York Times bestselling author. His book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man took this country by storm.

So, you quit, but that was one step. Writing about it was another. Talk about your attempts over time.

JOHN PERKINS: Oh, yes. After I quit, I tried several times to write the book that became Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, and each time I reached out to other economic hit men I had worked with or jackals to try to get their stories, word got out and I was threatened. I had a young daughter at the time. She’s now twenty-five. And I also was offered some bribe. In fact, I accepted a bribe of about a half a million dollars. It’s what’s called a legal bribe, but it’s a bribe, and it was given to me with the condition that I not write the book. There was no question about that. I describe it in detail.

And I assuaged my guilt by putting a lot of that money into nonprofits I had formed—Dream Change and Pachamama Alliance—that are helping Amazonian people fight oil companies, so to assuage my guilt some. But I didn’t write the story. And this happened a number of times, and I would find one excuse or another, and I wrote other books about indigenous people. I worked with these people. I wrote the books you mentioned earlier about Shamanism and so forth, and so I kind of, you know, distracted myself and assuaged my guilt and went on with this.

And then, on 9/11, I was in the Amazon with the Shuar people, had taken a group of nonprofit people in to learn from indigenous people in the Amazon. But shortly after that, I came up to New York to Ground Zero, and as I stood there looking down into that terrible pit, that smoldering—and it still smelled of burning flesh—I realized that I had to write the book, I could no longer defer, that the American people had no understanding of why so many people around the world are angry and frustrated and terrified, and that I had to take responsibility for what happened at 9/11. In fact, we all have to take a certain responsibility, which is not in any way to condone mass murder by anybody ever—I’m not condoning that in any way—but I did realize that the American people needed to understand why there’s so much anger around the world. I had to write the book.

So this time I didn’t tell anyone I was writing it, and even my wife and daughter, they knew I was writing something, but they didn’t know what. I didn’t reach out to other people. It made it a little more difficult to write it. But finally I got it in the hands of a very good New York agent, and he sent it out to publishers. At that point, this manuscript becomes my best insurance policy, as at that point if something strange happens to me, including now, suddenly the book will sell. Even though it’s been a bestseller for a long time, it will sell a lot more copies, if something—people sometimes laugh and say, “Do you worry that your publisher may be trying to assassinate you, because it would certainly help book sales?” I don’t worry about it. But, you know, so at that point, once I got the manuscript there, it became my insurance policy.

AMY GOODMAN: You write “A jackal is born,” about Jack Corbin. Who is he?

JOHN PERKINS: Well, Jack Corbin—and that’s not his real name, but he’s a real person—he’s alive and well today, working for us in Iraq. But he is a jackal, he is an assassin. And one of the most fascinating stories, I think, involves Seychelles, which is a small county, an island country, off the coast of Africa. And it happens to be located where Diego Garcia, one of the United States’s most strategic air bases, is located.

There’s a long history behind Diego Garcia. But in the late ‘70s, Seychelles had a president that was very friendly to us, James Mancham, and he was overthrown in a bloodless coup by [France-Albert] Rene, a socialist. And [France-Albert] Rene threatened to get us out of Diego Garcia, to expose the real facts behind the terrible things that went on to put us in Diego Garcia. There’s a lot of details that I won’t get into now.

In any case, I was called down to Washington to meet with a bunch of retired generals and admirals, who were trying—who were all working as economic hit men for consulting firms, and they were prepping me to go in and corrupt [France-Albert] Rene and bring him around to our side. But before doing that, they wanted to find out whether he was really corruptible or not. And it was sort of interesting that they—one of these generals had a young protégé, a young man, and the general had noticed that a high diplomat from Seychelles in Washington had a young wife who was not very happy. So this young man was sent in to seduce the wife and compromise her and get information from her, which is a fairly common tactic. Sex is a big thing in this game of diplomacy and economic hit people. And sort of an interesting bi-story here is that one time at lunch this general came back, and he said, “You know, I think you economic hit men have a much tougher job than you women counterpart, because,” he said, “now this woman, the diplomat’s wife, is buying into this with the young man, but she wants to be convinced that he loves her. So, you know, my god, you know, I’d give the keys to the Pentagon to a young lady just for some good sex. I don’t need to be convinced that she loves me. But I guess that’s the difference between men and women.” That’s what he said. Kind of interesting. Anyway, in the end, the young man did get the information from the wife, and the information was that [France-Albert] René was not corruptible. There was no point in even trying.

AMY GOODMAN: Also, Diego Garcia is very significant as a military base.

JOHN PERKINS: Extremely significant. And it was used—it’s being used in Afghanistan and Iraq and sorties that we fly in to Africa or any part of that world. In any case, I was called off the job, and a little while later a team of assassins were sent in from South Africa—forty-five, forty-six, I can’t remember the exact number—were sent in as a rugby team to bring in Christmas gifts to children of the Seychelles, but their real job was to overthrow the government and assassinate Rene. At the time, I didn’t know these individuals. Now, I know Jack Corbin. I know him very well, personally. I’ve met him since. Our paths crossed back then, but we didn’t know each other.

AMY GOODMAN: What exactly did he do?

JOHN PERKINS: Well, the team went in, and they were apprehended at the airport. A security guard discovered a hidden weapon on one of them. A huge gun battle broke out at the Mahi airport, and these mercenaries were surrounded by perhaps a thousand soldiers on the outside. Jack told me it was one of the few times in his life where he figured he was going to die and had time to think about it. Many times he could have died, but he just reacted quickly. And they didn’t know what to do, but eventually an Air India 707 came into view and asked permission to land, and they gave it permission to land. As soon as it landed, they hijacked it, and they flew it back to Durban, South Africa.

And I’m now watching this on the national news. This was now on US national news, and I’m knowing that this is—I didn’t know what was going to happen when I was called off the case, but now I’m seeing it unfold. And to the world, what we saw is this plane, Air India 707, flies into Durban, South Africa, surrounded by South African security guards. The men on the plane give themselves up. They march off. They’re sent to court and then sentenced to prison, and some, I think, to execution, and that’s the end of the story, as far as we know.

Now that I know Jack, what actually happened was when the plane was surrounded, the security forces got on the telephone with the plane and discovered there was their good friends, their teachers in fact, on the plane. They worked out a deal. The men gave themselves up. They did spend three months in prison. They had their own wing with television, etc., and then were quietly released after three months. A lot of those same men, that team, a lot of them today are in Iraq working for us there, doing things that, you know, our soldiers are forbidden from doing. And they’re making very good money doing it.

AMY GOODMAN: Who is this man, so-called Jack Corbin, working for today in Iraq?

JOHN PERKINS: Well, he works for a private company in Iraq that has a contract, you know, that comes through the Pentagon, CIA, one of those organizations. So, like so much of this work, there’s a tremendous, as you’ve reported on this program, a tremendous number of these mercenaries there. Jack Corbin and his people are at the very top of that level. They’re the extremely skilled ones who do the really delicate work. We’ve also got a lot of people working for Blackwater and others that, you know, are not quite as skilled and are just out there doing kind of the grunt work. But there’s all kinds at that level.

AMY GOODMAN: Bechtel, Bolivia, the water wars. You’re based in the Bay Area, where Bechtel is based, and the continent you know best, South America.

JOHN PERKINS: Yeah, well, you know, Bechtel was given the franchise to own and operate the water system of Cochabamba, Bolivia, third largest city in that country. And the World Bank forced this to happen. It’s so sad. When it happened, suddenly the price of water quadrupled for some people, went up by tremendous amounts. People could no longer afford water. Cochabamba is a pretty poor city. There’s sections of it that are extremely poor.

And so, the people took to the streets. They rebelled against this. There were riots. And Bechtel dug in its heels, but eventually they threw Bechtel out of Bolivia. Bechtel then sued Bolivia for $50 million in a European court, because they couldn’t sue in a US court, because of the laws between Bolivia and the US. And then Evo Morales was elected president of Bolivia, and very shortly after that, Bechtel dropped its lawsuit. But it was interesting that the lawsuit was for lost profits that they hadn’t been able to realize because they had been thrown out for doing things that were so onerous to the people there.

AMY GOODMAN: John Perkins, what do you see as the solutions right now?

JOHN PERKINS: Well, you know, Amy, this empire that we’ve created really has an emperor, and it’s not the president of this country. The President serves, you know, for a short period of time. But it doesn’t really matter whether we have a Democrat or a Republican in the White House or running Congress; the empire goes on, because it’s really run by what I call the corporatocracy, which is a group of men who run our biggest corporations. This isn’t a conspiracy theory. They don’t need to conspire. They all know what serves their best interest. But they really are the equivalent of the emperor, because they do not serve at the wish of the people, they’re not democratically elected, they don’t serve any limited term. They essentially answer to no one, except their own boards, and most corporate CEOs actually run their boards, rather than the other way around. And they are the power behind this.

And so, if we want to turn this around, we have to impact them very strongly, which means that we have to change the corporations, which is their power base. And what I feel very strongly is that today corporations exists for the primary purpose of making large profits, making a few very rich people a lot richer on a quarterly basis, on a daily basis, on a very short-term basis. That shouldn’t be. There is no reason for that to be.

Corporations have been defined as individuals. Individuals have to be good citizens. Corporations need to be good citizens. They need to take—their primary goal must be to take care of their employees, their customers and all the people around the world who provide the resources that go into making this world run, and to take care of the environments and the communities where those people live.

We must get the corporations to redefine themselves, and I think it’s very realistic that we can do so. Every corporate executive out there is smart enough to realize that he’s running a very failed system. As an economist, as a rational person, nobody can conclude anything otherwise. If you look at the fact that less than 5% of the world’s population live in the United States and we consume more than 25% of the world’s resources and create over 30% of its major pollution, you can only conclude that we’ve created a very flawed and failed system. This is not a model that can be sold to the Chinese or the Indians or the Africans or the Middle Easterners or the Latin Americans. We can’t even continue with it ourselves. It has to change. And corporate executives know that. They’re smart individuals. I believe that they want to see change.

And when we have really pushed them to change, we’ve been extremely successful. For example, we’ve got them to clean up rivers that were terribly polluted in the 1970s in this country. We got them to get rid of the aerosol cans that were destroying the ozone layer. We got them to change their policies toward hiring and promoting minorities and women. We’ve gotten them to put seatbelts in cars and airbags, against their initial resistance. We’ve got them to change tremendously in any specific area where we’ve set out to do that.

Now, it behooves us, we must convince them that their corporations need to be institutions to make this a better world, rather than institutions that serve a few very rich people and their goal is to make those people even richer. We need to turn this around. We must.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to ask one last quick question on Ecuador, and that is the death of Ecuador’s Defense Minister Guadalupe Larriva, who died in a helicopter crash last year near the Manta US Air Base installation. Do you know anything about that?

JOHN PERKINS: Well, yeah. I just came from Ecuador, and everybody is talking about it, because the same thing happened to Jaime Roldos’s minister of defense before he was assassinated. And the fact that it happened next to the US air base in Manta and it was a freak crash, two helicopters collidng, the similarities between what happened to Jaime Roldos, people all through Ecuador are saying this was a warning to Rafael Correa, the new president of Ecuador.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to have to leave it there. John Perkins, thanks for joining us. John Perkins’s new book is called The Secret History of the American Empire: Economic Hit Men, Jackals and the Truth about Global Corruption.

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【引用:英字編】:以上の通り。



出展引用リンク2:matsuokahajimeの日記 :

  http://d.hatena.ne.jp/matsuokahajime/20070903

【引用始め】:出展引用リンク2:matsuokahajimeの日記 :以下の通り。-----

朝日ニュースターのデモクラシーNOWという番組で、経済ヒットマン米国の闇を語るというのを見ました。

ジョン・パーキンス(John Perkins)という人のインタビューで、彼はNSAに就職後、経済ヒットマンとしての適性を見抜かれて民間のコンサルタント会社に移籍(NSAもCIAも政府職員は手を汚さないそうです)して、第三世界の元首などを脅したり、買収したりする仕事をしていたようです。買収できない場合には、ジャッカルと呼ばれる別の人たちが動いて、飛行機事故にみせかけたりして暗殺するそうです。戦国時代の日本でも、軍師がそういう役割をしていたことが多いわけだし、忍者だっていたのでしょうから、とりあえず、アメリカの多国籍企業は世界を相手にそういう国取りゲームをやっているのでしょう。映画などでよく描かれる話ではあったのですが、やっていた当人が本を書いたり、TVに出演しているわけで、なんとも生々しい限りでした。彼らの目的は、第三世界の人々に借金をさせて、その金でアメリカ企業がインフラを作り、第三世界の人々を酷使して地下資源の採掘をしたり、廃棄物で第三世界の人々を苦しめたりすることということのようです。コンゴで採掘されるレアメタル(コバルトだったかな?)の例を最もひどい例として指摘していました。

ちょっと前に、坂本竜馬についての番組をネット上でみました。(多分、元はTBSの番組かな?)竜馬にしても伊藤博文にしても幕末に活躍した人たちの多くは長崎でグラバーと会っていたし、むしろグラバーに操られる立場だったみたいな内容です。グラバーがフリーメイソンだったかどうかは上海の資料が焼失していたのでわからないみたいな、フリーメイソンがらみの追求が多かったのですが、それはどうでも良いような気がしました。薩長の後ろには海外の勢力がいて、それによって成し遂げられた武力革命のまま今の日本があるわけで、未だに長州出身者が総理大臣をやっていることから見ても、日本は国民のためではなく、海外の多国籍企業の利益のために動く政府という歴史の延長の上にいるわけですが、ジョン・パーキンスが話していたのと同じような国民に借金と搾取と汚染だけを残すというあからさまな構造は思い当たりません。

もしかしたら、現在のサブプライム問題で日本が買っているアメリカ国債が紙くずになったり、郵政民営化した結果、日本国民の蓄えが、アメリカのGDPの4割を占めるという金融魔術によって消えてなくなったりするのかも知れないのですが、道筋は僕には見えていません。たとえば、小泉竹中などが、経済ヒットマンに買収されていて郵政民営化を行った上に、現在の人々が坂本竜馬を褒め称える様に、後の歴史家は、小泉竹中を賞賛するように長い年月をかけて徐々に歴史が修正されて行くという予定になっているのかも知れません。

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【引用終わり】以上の通り。

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
【出展引用リンク2】:

   http://asahi-newstar.com/program/democracy/onair/
  
   http://asahi-newstar.com/program/democracy/onair/070831-004158.html


【引用始め】;【出展引用リンク2】:以下の通り。 (2007.8.31放送)

ーーーーーーーーー     ーーーーーーーーー     ーーーーー


デモクラシーNOW!今回は、世界を暗躍する「経済ヒットマン」が語る衝撃の真実、
そして、軍病院の慰問を拒否された反戦シンガー、ジョーン・バエズのエピソードを
ご紹介します。

1)エコノミック・ヒットマンが語るアメリカ帝国の秘史
  ―経済刺客、暗殺者、グローバルな腐敗の真相(米国で6月5日放送)

John Perkins on "The Secret History of the American Empire: Economic Hit Men, Jackals,
and the Truth about Global Corruption"

英文サイト

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/05/149254#transcript#transcript

今回のゲストは、企業グローバリゼーションを推進する勢力の中枢で働いてきたと
主張する人物です。
ジョン・パーキンスは、2004年に出版された回想録『エコノミック・ヒットマンの告白』の中で、
自分は過去10年にわたり国際コンサルタントとして第三世界の指導者たちに高額で雇われ、
米国の政府と企業にとって好ましい政策を取るよう(彼はこれを「コーポレートクラシー(企業独裁)」と
呼んでいます)誘導してきたと告白して、驚異的なベストセラーとなりました。
2007年に出た続編でパーキンスはこの考えをさらに推し進め、
多国籍企業の活動が貧しい国の環境や経済に与える悪影響を強調し、
法人企業にも「善良な市民」として振舞うことを要求すべきだと主張しています。


2)軍病院に反戦歌はいらない ジョーン・バエズが傷痍兵のために歌うのを軍が拒絶
  (米国5月4日放送)
  Banned by Army: Folk Singer Joan Baez Can't Sing to Wounded Soldiers at Walter Reed

英文サイト

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/04/1419207

フォーク歌手ジョーン・バエズは反戦活動家としても有名です。
特に60年代から70年代にかけてのベトナム反戦運動で精力的に活躍し、
日本でもよく知られています。その後もずっと現役シンガーとして活動し続けています。
今年4月末バエズはウォルター・リード陸軍医療センターで歌う予定になっていたのですが、
直前になって軍病院の側から出演を拒絶されました。
「彼女は、この場所にふさわしくない」との当局者の発言があったそうです。
番組の中で「花はどこへいった」という、ピート・シガーの曲をバエズがカバーしたものが
流れていますが、あらためて聞きてみると、やはり、きわめつけの反戦歌です。
今回の軍病院のやや稚拙な対応も、こうした歌のもつ力への恐れの現われのように思えます。

『花はどこへ行った』

花はどこへ行った?
長い時間がすぎて
花はどこへ行った?
ずっと昔の話
花はどこへ行った?
みんな少女が摘んでしまったよ

いつになったらわかるのかな?
いつになったらわかるのかな?

少女はどこへ行った?
長い時間がすぎて
少女はどこへ行った?
ずっと昔の話
少女はどこへ行った?
みんな旦那さんを見つけたよ

いつになったらわかるのかな?
いつになったらわかるのかな?

若者はどこへ行った?
長い時間がすぎて
若者はどこへ行った?
ずっと昔の話
若者はどこへ行った?
みんな戦争に行っちゃった

いつになったらわかるのかな?
いつになったらわかるのかな?

兵士はどこへ行った?
長い時間がすぎて
兵士はどこへ行った?
ずっと昔の話
兵士はどこへ行った?
みんなお墓の中さ

彼らのお墓はどこへ行った?
長い時間がすぎて
彼らのお墓はどこへ行った?
ずっと昔の話
彼らのお墓はどこへ行った?
みんな花にかこまれているよ

いつになったらわかるのかな?
いつになったらわかるのかな?

(訳詩 駒宮俊友)


★デモクラシーNOW!の日本語版サイトもご覧下さい。
http://democracynow.jp/


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【出演者プロフィール 】

司会:エイミー・グッドマン
司会・制作責任者

1985年、独立系ラジオ局パシフィカのニューヨーク局WBAIでジャーナリストとして出発。
「WBAIイブニング・ニュース」に10年間携わる。91年に東ティモールを取材し、
インドネシア兵士によるティモール人270人の虐殺(ディリ虐殺)を同僚とともに目撃。
この事件のドキュメンタリー"Massacre:The Story of East Timor"(大虐殺:東ティモールの物語)
によって、「ロバート・F・ケネディ賞」「アルフレッド・デュポン-コロンビア大学賞」など
数々の賞を受賞した。
1996年にパシフィカ・ラジオのニュース番組「デモクラシー・ナウ!」を立ち上げ、
この番組の中でナイジェリア・デルタ地帯における米国系石油企業の活動を取材した
"Drilling and Killing:Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship"
(採油と殺戮:シェブロンとナイジェリアの独裁石油政権)を放送、
1998年の「ジョージ・ポーク賞」、全米地域放送連合会の「ゴールデン・リール賞」などを受賞した。
パシフィカ・ラジオから独立した後は、
この番組のチーフ・プロデューサーとして中心的な役割を果たし、
長年の業績が評価されて、ジャーナリストとして初めて
“もう一つのノーベル賞”といわれる「ライト・ライブリフッド賞」を2008年受賞した。



共同司会:ファン・ゴンザレス
ジャーナリスト

1988年以降、ニューヨーク市の地元日刊紙「ニューヨーク・デイリー・ニューズ」の
コラムニストを務める。「ジョージ・ポーク賞」など数々の賞を受賞し、
1988年には「全米ヒスパニック系ジャーナリスト協会」の会長に選ばれる。
著作、「フォールアウト-世界貿易センタービル崩落は環境になにをもたらしたのか」
(岩波書店、原題:Fallout:The Environmental Consequences of
the World Trade Center Collapse)では、米国政府と環境保護庁による
NYのグランド・ゼロ周辺の健康ハザードに関する隠蔽を明らかにした。

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【引用終わり】以上の通り。

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「地域主権」こそ財政再建の決め手となる!──原点は松下幸之助の「無税国家」構想


「地域主権」こそ財政再建の決め手となる!──原点は松下幸之助の「無税国家」構想
【出展引用リンク】: 



【引用始め】:以下の通り。

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「地域主権」こそ財政再建の決め手となる!──原点は松下幸之助の「無税国家」構想
 全国知事会が7日、自民・公明・民主3党代表を招いて各党の分権改革構想について公開討論会を開き、さらにそれを踏まえて翌日に各党マニフェストへの採点簿を発表したのは、まことに画期的な試みで、本来であれば、知事会に限らずさまざまな地域・経済・業界・職能・労働団体やNPO連合などが自分らの主要な政策的関心事についてこのような討論会を開いたり採点簿を公表したりして、参加の構成員はじめ世論に対して政権選択のための具体的な判断材料を提供するというのが、「政権交代のある政治風土」を涵養する上で不可欠のインフラの1つである。例えば米国では、労組が選挙のたびごとに、自分らに直接的に利害関係のある法律や間接的に関心がある法律について、(米国では原則として党議拘束がないので)上院6年、下院2年の任期中の全議員の投票態度を○×で一覧表にして全組合員に配付したりするし、さまざまの団体が似たようなことをするが、日本では、日本青年会議所が各地で全候補者を招いた討論会を開く努力を重ねて来たのを例外として、そのような政治文化はまだ形成されていない。
 その点では知事会の試みは評価されるべきであるけれども、中身となると結構お粗末で、そもそも、前稿で指摘した「地方分権」と「地域主権」の区別も定かならぬまま「地方分権型の国家像の明示」度を評価したり、それと大いに関連することだが、「地方消費税の充実」「地方交付税の増額」など地方財源の確保について不当とも言える高い評価を自民党案に与えたりしている。このことは、知事たち自身が、現行の中央集権国家が今後も続くという前提に立って地方の取り分を増やして欲しいと思っている発想から抜け出ていないことの現れである。また、この会議をリードした橋下徹=大阪府知事が特にこだわった、分権をめぐる「国と地方の協議機関設置」の明文化などはくだらない問題で、それで民主党がオタオタして急にマニフェストに書き加えることになったのは、なおさらくだらない。「地域主権国家に転換するのに、地方と緊密に議論するのは当たり前で、当たり前すぎるからマニフェストには書いていないだけだ」くらい言っておけばいいのである。
 知事会も「協議機関の設置」程度で満足するのでなく、むしろ新党日本がマニフェストの第1章「行政・財政改革」の「提案3」の中で言っているように、「参議院議員は全国比例区選出、並びに中央vs地方の不毛な二項対立を解消すべく、フランス等に倣って47都道府県と18政令指定都市の首長が兼務する構成に改める」という主張を積極的に評価して、フランス型(下院と全地方議員による間接選挙)かドイツ型(州政府による任命)か米国型(各州2名の直接選挙)かはともかく、「参議院を地方の意思を反映する場に根本的に変革しろ」くらいのことを言えばよかった。
●起点は『日本再編計画』
 さて、地方分権構想の歴史は古いが、今日問題の焦点となりつつある「地域主権」という言葉を明確に提起し、それを「中央集権」に置き換えられるべき対立概念と位置づけたその起点は、斎藤精一郎責任監修『日本再編計画』(96年、PHP研究所)である。
 国民が重税に喘いでいるにもかかわらず財政赤字がますます増大し、急激な高齢化に伴う社会保障費の負担もどこまで高まるのか見当もつかない中で、このままでは日本が国家破綻に突き進んでいくことは避けられない。これを回避して社会に創造性と多様性に満ちたダイナミズムを取り戻す「賢者の道」は1つだけ残されていて、それは「地域主権」型行財政構造への転換である——としたこの斎藤プランは、当時政界にも大きな波紋を呼び、94年12月に結成されて1年半余りだった小沢=新進党も、96年9月に結成されたばかりの旧民主党も、これを大いに重視した。
 96年10月の総選挙で、新進党は突如として「消費税は3%に据え置き、所得税・住民税を半減して来年度から18兆円の減税を実施する」というマニフェスト(これが日本初の政党マニフェスト!)を掲げて人々を驚かせたが、これは実は、斎藤プランが97年度から地域主権国家に転換した場合「2000年には早くも18兆円の支出削減が可能」としていたことにヒントを得て打ち出したものだった。斎藤プランでさえ、一種の机上の空論であったものを、しかもいきなり来年度から巨額減税が実施可能であるかに言うのは、拙速というより粗暴で、これが一因となって同党は伸び悩んで「政権奪還」の目標を果たせなかったばかりか、その直後から党運営を巡るゴタゴタが始まって四分五裂に陥っていった。他方、旧民主党は初の総選挙となったこの選挙で52議席を確保する善戦で、その直後に熱海で開いた当選議員総結集の政策合宿で、第1番目の講師に斎藤を招いた。
 ことほど左様に、斎藤プランは、新進党から後に自由党を経て民主党に合流した小沢を含めて、今日の民主党が総意として「地域主権国家への転換」を掲げるに至る起点をなしていたのである。
 因みに、この斎藤プランづくりのプロジェクトを取り仕切ったのが、当時はPHPの副社長だった江口克彦で、同プロジェクトの終了後も、『地域主権論/関西独立のすすめ』(96年)、『脱中央集権国家論』(02年)、『地域主権型道州制』(07年)、『日本を元気にする地域主権』(前原誠司ら民主党議員との地域主権研究会の討論のまとめ、08年)、『国民を元気にする国のかたち』(08年)、『地域主権型道州制がよくわかる本』(09年)などを精力的に出版、このテーマに関する伝道師の役目を果たしている。ただし、斎藤プランでは「12州257府(基礎自治体)」に再編するものの「州はあまり強い権能を持ちえず、広域的な公共事業、危機管理、警察などの仕事に限られるとしていたが、江口はその後次第に強く「道州制」を主張するようになってきたようだ。
●松下幸之助の“遺言”
 斎藤プロジェクトは正式には「『無税国家』研究プロジェクト」と名付けられていた。「『無税国家』とは20年以上も前に、故松下幸之助が提案したアイディアである。このアイディアをひとつのベースに、これからの日本の目指す国家像を検討してきた。そして、大胆な国家の再編によって生み出した資金を、基金として積み立てるという、いままでの国家運営にはない発想を編み出した。それが『日本再建計画』である」(同書まえがき)。
 松下はそのアイディアをいろいろな形で語ったようだが、同書に参考資料として再録されている79年11月読売国際経済懇話会での講演「私の無税国家論」では、要旨次のように言っている。
▼今、高率の税金で非常に国民は苦しんでいて、にもかかわらず政府は財政窮迫して赤字国債を発行して国費に充てているという非常に前途暗澹たる状態である。それでは困るので、今から120年という期間をとって、まずその研究準備に入り、21世紀の初めから無税国家への道を歩んでいきたい。▼日本では、国家予算は全部使い切りだが、これを、原則として予算の1割は余らせて、それを年々積み立てていく。明治の初年からそうしておったならば、今日まで110年間に、今日の貨幣価値にして500兆円前後もの積立金が出来て、それを年5分で運用するとそこから25兆円、本年度の国家予算の約6割に相当する余剰金が出て、税金はもうあまり要らないということになる。もしそれが1000兆円であれば50兆円が浮き、本年度予算の36兆円は全部利子収入によって賄うことが出来る。▼今は、(企業や個人が)儲けてもかなりの大部分が税金になってしまう。しかし、なんぼ儲けても税金が要らないということになれば、これは面白いということで、大いに働くだろう。そういう1つの目標を立てそれに邁進していくことを、政治の各面に注入して、成果をあげるようにもっていくと考えたらどうか……。
 ここにはもちろん「地方分権」も「地域主権」も出て来ない。松下が89年に亡くなって後、彼の秘蔵っ子だった江口がこの“遺言”を本当に実現可能にする鍵は地域主権への転換ではないかとの想定の下、主査の斎藤はじめ本間正明(大阪大学教授)、曽根泰教(慶応大学教授)ら10人の経済・行政・財政・税制の専門家を集めて93年1月にこのプロジェクトを発足させ、3年半をかけて出版にこぎ着けたのだった。
 松下の原初アイディアはいささか突拍子もないものと映るし、斎藤らのプランも机上シミュレーションの域を出ないが、問題はその細部を突き回すことではなく、「地域主権(国家)」という言葉が最初に広く知られるようになった出立の時から、財政再建というにとどまらず、さらにその先、限りなく無税に近づいて行きながら財政を豊かにし経済と地方を元気にしていくための決め手となる逆転の発想として打ち出されてきたものであることを、しっかりと認識することである。マスコミがこのことを知らないのは仕方がないとして、最近なり立ての政治家や知事もそこまで勉強が行き届かず、さらに当の民主党もそこをきちんと説明しきれないまま、皆が皆、一知半解のような状態で議論しているのは非生産的と言うしかない。
 この考え方を独自に発展させたものとして、前志木市長で現在はNPO「地方自立政策研究所」を主宰する穂坂邦夫らの『地方自治自立へのシナリオ』(08年、東洋経済新報社)がある。埼玉県と草加市をモデルとしてとの全事業を吟味して仕分けし、その結果を全国に適用したところ、総額で地方財政全体の規模83兆円のうち17%に当たる14兆円を削減できることが明らかになった。国の事務事業については「予算委員会にも具体的な予算資料が提出されていないため……同様の仕分けができませんでしたが」地方分の削減額に対応させると「少なくとも9兆円ぐらいが国にも削減余地はありそう」で、「そうすると少なくとも地方と国を合わせた削減可能額は22〜23兆円になるのではないでしょうか」(江口・前原『日本を元気にする地域主権』での穂坂の発言)。
 地域主権国家への転換によって、斎藤プランでは年30兆円、穂坂試算では22〜23兆円が削減可能で、穂坂によれば「こうした視点から抜本改革を進めるには、やはり政権交代をするしかない」。逆に、民主党の立場からすれば、地域主権国家への転換に踏み切れさえすれば財源などいくらでもあるのであって、中央集権国家が続くという前提での個々の政策への財源対策などどうにでもなることだと言い切ればいいのである。小沢も鳩山も菅もそこが基本的には分かっているが、クソ真面目な岡田が分かっていなくて、財源政策を詰めないととか思っているのがまことにまずい。
-----------------------------------------------------------------《参考・斎藤「地域主権」プランの概略》『日本再編計画』はもはや絶版なので、参考までにその要点をまとめておく。繰り返すが、その細部ではなく、国家像を考える発想の仕方を学ぶことが地域主権論の入門編となる。
【地域主権の3原則】(1)住民と行政との距離を近づける——住民になるべく近い単位に意思決定の中心を置く。新たに誕生する257の府(基礎自治体)が住民に身近な行政を独自に展開できる姿を目指す。州は広域行政にかかわる仕事のみに特化し、あくまで府の自主的運営を側面から補助する役割に徹する。「限りなく一層制に近い二層制」を指向する。(2)税金を通じた住民参加と選択——「行政主導」ではなく「住民主役」の行政制度を作る。地域が税率や税目、行政サービスの内容や水準をメニュー化し、住民がそれおを比較・選択することが望ましい。(3)行政の意欲と活力の向上——国が補助金(アメ)と機関委任事務(ムチ)を使って地域を管理している構造を断ち切り、地域が自主性と自己責任にもとづいて行政運営を行っていく構造に変えていく。
【国の4つの役割と5庁制】国民生活への過剰な介入を行う「大きく、複雑で、愚かな」国から、国民全体の利益に関わる分野や、高度な政治的判断が求められる分野以外は一切関与しない「小さく、簡素で、賢明な」国へと方向転換していく。具体的には次の4つの役割となる。(1)外交・防衛(国際公共財の提供)(2)医療・年金(国民基盤サービス)(3)ルール設定・監視(検察・裁判所の運営管理、消費者保護や金融システム維持を含む)(4)調査・高等学術研究
これらの機能を担うのは、法務庁、対外関係庁、歳入庁、生活環境庁、総合行政庁の5庁で、総合行政庁は防衛庁を含む各種委員会を統括する。
【12州の創設】現行の都道府県を再編し、新たに10州プラス2特別州を創設する。州は府の後見役として府単独では出来ない仕事や広域に及ぶ仕事、具体的には公共事業、危機管理、警察などの行政事項のみ担当する。したがって、州はあまり強い権限は持ち得ない。
【首相公選制】国の政治制度は、総理大臣を直接選挙で選ぶ「首相公選制」を採用する。衆議院は将来的には府を1小選挙区として定数257とする。参議院は州を選挙ブロックとして各4名を選出し(定数48)国政に対して州の意向を反映させる。
【税源体系の改革】所得税・個人住民税の3分の2、固定資産税は「府税」、法人税・法人住民税・法人事業税、消費税は「州税」、所得税・個人住民税の3分の1、相続税、たばこ・酒税、関税は「国税」とする。これによって国と地方の税源配分は現在の6:4から2:8に転換する。不可避的に生じる過度の地域間格差は、国が財源を保障する「垂直的調整」ではなく、州相互が助け合うドイツ型の「水平的調整」のメカニズムによって是正する。
【歳出30兆円削減】国レベルでは、産業振興費廃止、郵政など民営化効果、行革効果、事務移転などで(制度革新後10年後に)20兆円、地方レベルでは、市町村再編効果、産業振興費廃止、財政調整、事務移転などで10兆円、計年々30兆円の支出を削減し、その余剰金を「21世紀活力基金」として積み立て、その蓄積と運用益を以て増税に代わる福祉財源、公債の返済、活力維持のための減税に利用する。2020年には所得税ゼロも可能になる。▲

↓「高野論説」過去記事はコチラ↓

投稿者: ニュース・スパイラル 日時: 2009年08月10日 00:53
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投稿者: 《THE JOURNAL》編集部 2009年08月10日 01:16

【孤軍奮闘戦士の勇気ある植草氏のブログランキングが第一位に返り咲いた。】

大変にうれしい。悪性の政治・官僚・財閥に対して、この国民世論の力を見せ付けるために、がんばろう。 いざ闘争開始、進撃開始だ。 社会的な正義の確立のために、孤軍奮闘する植草氏を応援しよう。    2009.8.10


【参考リンク】:
  植草一秀の『しられざる真実』  
   http://uekusak.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/


【引用始め】:以下の通り。  ブログランキング [更新日時:2009/08/11 00:00] 現在
ーーーーーー   -----   ---
第1位
植草一秀の『知られざる真実』 政治・メディア・金融の真相・深層を抉る。 不撓不屈の精神で腐敗した権力の真実を洞察し、経世済民の思想を考える。
最新記事:2009/08/10 10:07 [植草一秀氏の民事弁護団声…] [『売国者たちの末路』書評…] [「無血市民革命」実現に向…]
191980
328350
824960

第2位
博士の独り言 真実と正論を共有するために! 国際時事、特にアジアのニュースに独自視点からコメントを加えます。
最新記事:2009/08/10 22:06 [朝日「中川昭一氏」報道に…] [台風災害のお見舞い] [日教組「教育破壊」考]
144110
395710
747050
第3位
新世紀のビッグブラザーへ blog 作家 三橋貴明のブログです 日本経済、アメリカ経済、マスメディアの問題などを中心に書き進めています。
最新記事:2009/08/10 11:56 [中国の最悪の輸出品 その…] [中国経済・隠された危機] [【集合知プロジェクト】日…]
89050
193890
504440
第4位
せと弘幸Blog『日本よ何処へ』 現下の日本に渾身の力を込めて筆を揮う! 気鋭の行動するジャーナリストが希代の金権政治家・小沢一郎の疑惑に斬り込む!
最新記事:2009/08/10 17:43 [8月15日を前にして呼び…] [<活動報告>反日台湾・シ…] [組織的妨害の指揮者は創価…]
65630
240720
342770
第5位
中韓を知りすぎた男 中国韓国と関わったビジネスマンのブログ 外国人とのビジネスで知った彼らの本質、政治家や評論家には見えない視点で迫ります。
最新記事:2009/08/10 15:17 [台湾の切り札] [台湾人はエライ、] [日本が叩き潰される!]
57450
209180
252910
第6位
ねずきちの ひとりごと 日本に手を出した国は必ず滅びる。 バカにされても、どんなに苦しくても、最後に勝ってしまう国、それが日本なのです。
最新記事:2009/08/10 10:04 [酒井法子逮捕のニュースに…] [ウソにまみれた広島平和式…] [在日外国人犯罪の実名公開…]
46860
200980
234720
第7位
正しい歴史認識・国益重視外交・核武装実現 本当の歴史と外交!必要不可欠な核武装! 日本国民の生命と財産と自由を守る核武装!取り戻せ、拉致被害者と領土と国家の誇り!
最新記事:2009/08/10 00:28 [中川昭一が断酒宣言!地元…] [TBSの特番に抗議の電凸…] [サンジャポでTBSに勧告…]
46840
151104
201216
第8位
リチャード・コシミズ・ブログ リチャード・コシミズの時事ブログ 911テロ・オウム事件本番・極東冷戦再構築、世界最終戦争の先読みと阻止!
最新記事:2009/08/08 21:07 [リチャード・コシミズ独立…] [日本の夜明けは北海道から] [民主党の「アジア共通通貨…]
43520
126680
238350
第9位
厳選!韓国情報 マスコミの韓国美化報道はもういらない。 厳選!韓国情報では、韓国の真の姿を次々暴露していきます(ノ´∀`*)
最新記事:2009/08/09 23:44 [★<;`Д´&gt…] [★サッカー日韓オールスタ…] [★<#`Д´&gt…]
42090
191436
254832
第10位
神州の泉 負け犬根性から脱却しよう、日本人 日本の「かたち」をとらえなおしてみたい。現実の風景も精神の風景も。
最新記事:2009/08/10 16:32 [国債増発に備え、民主党が…] [30日まで何が起こるかわ…] [植草さんの元同僚さんから]
35790
87620
132430

Monday, August 10, 2009

メタンハイドレートからの天然ガス連続生産に成功 :平成20年3月28日 

メタンハイドレートからの天然ガス連続生産に成功 :平成20年3月28日 

【出展引用リンク】: 

  http://www.jogmec.go.jp/news/release/docs/2007/pressrelease_080328.pdf

【引用始め】:以下の通り。 :(注:添付の一部の画像は、複製できない。:本リンク参照)

ーーーーーーーー      ーーーーーーーーー      ーーーーーー

「分解したガスを燃焼させたフレア」写真は、これまでカナダ側のご厚意で使わせて頂いた写真でしたが、日本側
で撮影した写真が調達できましたので、日本側に著作権がある写真に変更しました。(平成20年11月13日)
平成20年3月28日
メタンハイドレートからの天然ガス連続生産に成功
-メタンハイドレート資源化新手法で世界初の実証-
NEWS RELEASE www.jogmec.go.jp
独立行政法人 石油天然ガス・金属鉱物資源機構
問合せ先: 広報担当:
石油・天然ガス開発R & D推進グループ 総務企画グループ
磯部TEL:043-276-9204 今TEL:044-520-8592
独立行政法人 石油天然ガス・金属鉱物資源機構(JOGMEC 理事長:掛札 勲)は、カナダ北西部のボーフォート海沿岸陸上地域(北極圏に位置し、冬季には日中でも氷点下30度以下となる極寒地)において、永久凍土の地下約1100mに存在するメタンハイドレート層からメタンガスを産出する試験を3月10日~16日にかけて実施した。
この試験は、経済産業省が実施しているメタンハイドレート開発促進事業*1の一環として行われているもので、JOGMECはこの産出試験に係る事業を経済産業省から受託し、カナダの天然資源省(NRCan)と共同研究の形で、カナダ北西準州のオーロラ・カレッジをオペレータとして実施している。
メタンハイドレート開発促進事業では、現在、地中の固体のメタンハイドレートからメタンガスを効率的に生産する方法を研究中であり、JOGMECの前身である石油公団がNRCanを含む5カ国の共同研究として同地区で「温水循環法」*2によるメタンガス生産を2002年に世界で初めて成功させている。 今回の産出試験は、より効率的な生産が期待できる「減圧法」*3を2007年4月の産出試験に引き続き適用し、その効果を検証するのが目的である。
本試験では、約6日間の産出試験を行い、世界で初めて減圧法によりメタンハイドレートからメタンガスを連続的に生産することに成功した。これにより、生産手法として減圧法の有効性が確認でき、メタンハイドレート資源化への第1歩を印した。今後、得られたデータを解析し、詳細な評価を行う予定。
メタンハイドレートは、メタンガスと水が結びついた固体状の物質で、我が国周辺海域の大水深海底下に存在が確認されており、太平洋沖の東部南海トラフにおける原始資源量について約40TCF(約1.1兆m3)と試算*4され、将来の非在来型国産エネルギーとして期待されている。
*1 JOGMEC、独立行政法人 産業技術総合研究所、財団法人 エンジニアリング振興協会がメタンハイドレート資源開発研究コンソーシアム(プロジェクトリーダー:田中彰一東京大学名誉教授)を組織し、メタンハイドレート開発促進事業を推進している。 1
*2 温水循環法:坑井内に温水を循環させ、メタンハイドレートを加温することにより、固体であるメタンハイドレートを分解し、メタンガスを生産する方法。石油公団(日本)、NRCan(カナダ)の他米国、ドイツ、インドの計5カ国の共同研究として2002年に同手法を実施。
*3 減圧法:坑井内の圧力を減少させることにより、固体であるメタンハイドレートを分解し、メタンガスを生産す方法。今回の試験実施に先立ち、(独)産業技術総合研究所とJOGMECは共同でその有効性を検討していた。
*4 2007年3月5日 経済産業省News Release
試験サイトの位置図 2
試験サイト

陸上産出試験現場
分解したガスを燃焼させたフレア

----------- -------------- ---------
【引用終わり】:以上の通り。

【参考リンク】:【メタンハイドレート】 Wikipedia :

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A1%E3%82%BF%E3%83%B3%E3%83%8F%E3%82%A4%E3%83%89%E3%83%AC%E3%83%BC%E3%83%88

ーーーーーーーーーー        ーーーーーーーーー      ーーーーーーー

海洋開発の発展と促進の広報のため、私のブログランキングをよろしくお願い致します。

人気ブログランキングへ

【新潟県上越市沖の海底にメタンハイドレートの気泡を発見】:東京大学

マルチナロービームソナーSEABATのエコーグラム
中央の水平ラインが海底、扇の要部分が船底を表す。船底直下に鉛直方向に伸びた輝度の高いラインがメタンハイドレートプルーム。中央より右側のラインもメタンハイドレートプルームを表している。



エコーサウンダー(魚群探知機)が捉えたメタンプルーム(気泡の柱)



ベニズワイガニの手前の小さな孔からメタンが噴出



図15:調査に使用した無人探査機「ハイパードルフィン」



図14:2005年8月の調査で海底下から得られたメタンハイドレート



図13:メタンハイドレート:水が作る籠構造の中にメタン分子を取り込む



海水中を柱状に上昇するメタンハイドレートの気泡。



海中を上昇中でも安定に存在するメタンハイドレート。ハイドレート気泡の一部が崩壊して内部からガスが漏れ、気泡の間をうめている。





位置図 :新潟県上越市沖のメタン湧出調査海域位置



海鷹海脚と上越海丘において、メタンガス噴出とそれに伴うメタンハイドレートの気泡が発見された





【新潟県上越市沖の海底にメタンハイドレートの気泡を発見】 :東京大学
                   
          : 2007.3.5 発表


 発表者  松本 良(東京大学大学院理学系研究科地球惑星科学専攻 教授)
       沼波 秀樹(東京家政学院大学家政学部 助教授)
       青山 千春(株式会社独立総合研究所 自然科学部長)

【注:このページにある画像・動画を扱う際はクレジットを「東京大学・海洋研究開発機構」と記載してください】


【出展引用リンク1】: 新潟県上越市沖の海底にメタンハイドレートの気泡を発見
  http://www.tsukuba-sci.com/index.php?mode=kijiid&id=180   
  
http://www.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/info/methane-hydrate.html

   
【出展参考リンク2】: 

    海底から上昇するメタンハイドレートの気泡を発見、撮影に成功
     :東京大学/海洋研究開発機構ほか
     
    http://www.tsukuba-sci.com/index.php?mode=kijiid&id=180

 
---------- -------- -------
http://get.adobe.com/jp/flashplayer/?Lang=Japanese




動画1:   http://media.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/fms/fp/methane-hydrate01/

動画2:  http://media.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/fms/fp/methane-hydrate02/

動画3:   http://media.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/fms/fp/methane-hydrate03/

動画4:   http://media.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/fms/fp/methane-hydrate04/


引用:【出展引用リンク1】以下の通り。

【引用始め】:以下の通り。 :  (添付図表や画像は一部削除)

ーーーーーーーー      ーーーーーーーーー      ーーーーーー    

ンプ 東京大学ホームサイト間移動メニューEnglish Homeサイト内検索
サイト内検索: ロール別ナビゲーション学部生・院生教職員グローバルナビゲーションホーム概要専攻・学科・研究施設理学を志す方へ研究者一覧交通アクセスお問い合わせページの位置ホームプレスリリース2007年
2007/3/5
新潟県上越市沖の海底にメタンハイドレートの気泡を発見
発表者 松本 良(東京大学大学院理学系研究科地球惑星科学専攻 教授)
沼波 秀樹(東京家政学院大学家政学部 助教授)
青山 千春(株式会社独立総合研究所 自然科学部長)

※このページにある画像・動画を扱う際はクレジットを「東京大学・海洋研究開発機構」と記載してください

概要
海底から噴出するメタンがただちにメタンハイドレート化し、その後海水中を上昇して、最後は浅層で分解する様子を、世界で初めてビデオ撮影することに成功した。

新潟県上越市沖の海底から600mの高さにまでメタンガス気泡の柱(=メタンプルーム)を噴き出しているメタン噴出孔を潜水艇で調査した。そこでは、メタンは噴出後、直ちにメタンハイドレートに変わっていることが初めて明らかになった。深海底から湧き出したメタンは、通常は海水に溶解し、やがて酸化されて炭酸となるため、メタンとして表層に達することはないとこれまでは考えられている。しかしながら、上越沖では、気泡全体がメタンハイドレート化し、あるいはメタンハイドレートの皮膜で覆われるため、海水に溶けることなく浅海層にまで運ばれることが分かった。このことが、本海域の浅海層のメタン濃度異常の原因と考えられる。今回の発見により、海底下のメタンハイドレートシステムが直接に大気海洋系に影響し得ることが明らかとなった。

なお、この発表は、東京大学、海洋研究開発機構、東京家政学院大学、独立総合研究所、産業技術総合研究所の4つの機関の共同研究であり、共同発表である。

発表内容
背景:
メタンハイドレート(注1)とは、メタンガスと水からなる氷状固体物質で、海底下数100 mの堆積物中や永久凍土中に広く分布していることがわかっている。メタンハイドレートはその中に大量のメタンを蓄えており、石油や天然ガスなどの在来型エネルギー資源に代わる新しいエネルギー資源として注目されている。一方、メタンハイドレートは温度や圧力の変化で容易に分解して大量のメタンを放出するため、地球環境の変動要因としての可能性が指摘される。

調査・研究の目的と概要:
日本海東縁、新潟県上越市沖に位置する“海鷹海脚”(水深900~1,050 mの海底の高まり)上や上越海丘(水深1,000~1,150mの海底の高まり)上には、ポックマーク(注2)と呼ばれる直径数100m、深さ数10mの巨大な窪地が発達し、付近の海底から大量のメタンガスが噴出していることが、エコーサウンダー(計量魚探装置)(注3)やSEABAT(海底測深装置)を用いたこれまでの音響探査で確認されている。噴出メタンガスは気泡の柱として観察され、これをメタンプルームと呼ぶ。

湧出したメタンがその後どのような経過をたどるのかという海水中でのメタンの挙動を知るため、2006年9月、独立行政法人海洋研究開発機構の調査船「なつしま」搭載の無人探査機「ハイパードルフィン」(注4)を使って潜航調査を行った。その結果、(1) 海底の複数の小さな孔から大量のメタンガスが噴出していること、(2) 噴出したメタンの気泡が噴出口から数10cm上昇するうちに白いメタンハイドレート皮膜に覆われ、あるいは球状のメタンハイドレートに変わってゆく様子を確認した。(3) 噴出孔周辺には大規模なバクテリアマット等の化学合成生物群集(注5)が見られ、ベニズワイガニやカイメン類を優占種とした生物群集が存在することも明らかになった。

研究の意義:
環境インパクト:海底から湧出したメタンガスの気泡は海水に溶けて消滅し、あるいは微生物の代謝で消費されるため海洋表層に達することはまれで、大気のメタン濃度の上昇=温室効果に寄与することは殆どないと考えられていた。しかし、今回の発見により、日本海のように冷たい(0.5℃未満)海水中では、メタンの気泡はメタンハイドレートに覆われるため海水に溶け出すことなく浅海にまで達し、一部は大気のメタン濃度の上昇に関与する可能性が指摘できる。

資源インパクト:上越沖では、音波や電気抵抗を用いた物理探査によって、海底下数kmに由来する熱分解起源のメタン(注6)からなるメタンハイドレートが、海底下百数十mの堆積物中に密集して生成していると推定されている。今回の発見により、海底下に発達する熱分解起源メタンハイドレート密集帯とメタンプルームの間に密接な関係があることが分かり、メタンプルーム探査がメタンハイドレート資源探査に有効であることが分かった。

これまでの調査:
2004年7月-8月 海鷹丸UT04航海(東京海洋大学)
東京大学、産業技術総合研究所、独立総合研究所、東京家政学院大学
2004年12月 妙高丸
東京大学、千葉大学
2005年6月 「なつしま」NT05-09航海(海洋研究開発機構)
東京大学、東京家政学院大学、海洋研究開発機構、千葉大学
2005年7月-8月 海鷹丸UT05航海(東京海洋大学)
東京大学、産業技術総合研究所、独立総合研究所、東京家政学院大学
2005年8月 「かいよう」KY05-08航海(海洋研究開発機構)
海洋研究開発機構、東京大学、産業技術総合研究所、独立総合研究所、神戸大学、名古屋大学
2006年7月-8月 海鷹丸UT06航海(東京海洋大学)
東京大学、産業技術総合研究所、独立総合研究所、東京家政学院大学、海洋研究開発機構
2006年9月 「なつしま」NT06-19航海(海洋研究開発機構)
東京大学、海洋研究開発機構、独立総合研究所、東京家政学院大学

今後の課題と計画:
気温や海水温の上昇によるメタンハイドレートの分解が地球環境変動に関与している可能性が指摘されている。しかし、上越沖での研究成果からは、過去数万年の寒冷化(最終氷期)とそれに伴う海水面の低下がの最寒冷期(約2万年前)における寒冷化がメタンハイドレートの分解を引き起こし、逆に大気中のメタンガス濃度を上昇させた可能性を指摘することが出来る示唆する。日本海における冷たい海水中でのメタンハイドレートの分解とメタン放出は、大気環境に直接影響を及ぼすものである。過去のメタンプルーム現象を把握・復元することにより、メタンハイドレートの地球環境へのインパクトを評価できる。一方で、メタンハイドレートシステムの発達は海底下のメタンハイドレート集積を加速するため、過去の大規模分解の前には膨大なメタンハイドレート鉱床が発達していた可能性が指摘される。また、これに関連して、大量に分布する底生生物がどのようにメタンを利用しているかの検討も必要である。メタンプルームが海底下メタンハイドレート鉱床の発達と密接に関係することから、今後はメタンハイドレート資源評価も視野に置く必要がある。これらが、今夏以降の調査の重点課題であり、将来的に地球深部探査船「ちきゅう」などを用いた掘削調査により、日本海のメタンハイドレートシステムの解明を目指したい。

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動画1(45秒) 動画2(30秒)

動画3(10秒) 動画4(29秒)

図表

新潟県上越市沖のメタン湧出調査海域位置
海鷹海脚と上越海丘において、メタンガス噴出とそれに伴うメタンハイドレートの気泡が発見された


エコーサウンダー(魚群探知機)が捉えたメタンプルーム(気泡の柱)
マルチナロービームソナーSEABATのエコーグラム
中央の水平ラインが海底、扇の要部分が船底を表す。船底直下に鉛直方向に伸びた輝度の高いラインがメタンハイドレートプルーム。中央より右側のラインもメタンハイドレートプルームを表している。


海鷹海脚の水深885mの海底で発見されたメタンガス噴出地点。左:ベニズワイガニの手前の小さな孔からメタンが噴出する。右:トラップで集めたメタンの気泡はすべて白いメタンハイドレート皮膜に厚く覆われている。


上越海丘の水深991mの海底で発見されたメタンガス噴出地点。左:ベニズワイガニやカイメン類を優占種とする生物群集が発達する。右:トラップで集めたメタンの気泡はすべて白いメタンハイドレート皮膜に厚く覆われている。


海中を上昇中でも安定に存在するメタンハイドレート。ハイドレート気泡の一部が崩壊して内部からガスが漏れ、気泡の間をうめている。


海水中を柱状に上昇するメタンハイドレートの気泡。


用語解説

図13:メタンハイドレート:水が作る籠構造の中にメタン分子を取り込む


図14:2005年8月の調査で海底下から得られたメタンハイドレート


図15:調査に使用した無人探査機「ハイパードルフィン」


1.メタンハイドレート:
水分子とメタンガス分子からなる氷状の固体物質。温度が低く圧力の高い場所で安定に存在するため、深海堆積物中や永久凍土域に分布する。新しいエネルギー源として期待される一方,地球環境の劇的な変動要因としても注目される。(図13、14)↑
2.ポックマーク:
海底のすり鉢型の窪地。海底からのメタンの爆発的な噴き出しによって形成されるとの説が有力である。上越市沖では直径500 mにも及ぶ巨大なものが認められている。↑
3.エコーサウンダー(計量魚探装置):
海水中に一定の周波数の音を発射し跳ね返ってくる音から,魚群の有無を調べる探査装置。海水中の気泡群の探査にも利用される。↑
4.ハイパードルフィン:
独立行政法人海洋研究開発機構の保有する、水深3,000mまでの潜航調査を可能とする無人探査機。ハイビジョンカメラや様々な観測機器を搭載し、船上から左右のマニピュレーター等を操作し、海底の観察と試料の採取、観測調査を行う。(図15)↑
5.化学合成生物群集:
光合成に頼らず、メタンや硫化水素などから栄養分(有機物)を合成する化学合成細菌を共生・利用することによって、深海底熱水・冷水湧出部に群落を形成する生物群集。二枚貝類やハオリムシ類のように鰓に化学合成細菌を共生させてエネルギーを得るものや、ユノハナガニのように細菌(バクテリアマット)を捕食しているものなどがいる。↑
6.熱分解起源メタン/微生物分解起源ガス:
有機物は地層中で分解されてガスを生産する。海底から~数100 mより浅い地層中では微生物による分解が,深部の高温環境では非生物的に分解する。量的には熱分解ガスの方が多いと予想される。↑
発表雑誌
未定。ただし,次の学会・シンポジウムで口頭発表を予定。

○ ブルーアース’07 3月9日(金) パシフィコ横浜
○ 日本堆積学会2007年例会・総会 3月28日(水) つくばカピオ
○ 日本地球惑星科学連合2007年大会 5月19日(土) 幕張メッセ
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(c) 2002-2009 東京大学 大学院理学系研究科 広報委員会

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【引用終わり】:以上の通り。

【参考リンク】: http://www.jogmec.go.jp/news/release/docs/2007/pressrelease_080328.pdf
【メタンハイドレートからの天然ガス連続生産に成功-メタンハイドレート資源化新手法で世界初の実証】  平成20年3月28日
-NEWS RELEASE www.jogmec.go.jp
独立行政法人 石油天然ガス・金属鉱物資源機構問合せ先: 広報担当:石油・天然ガス開発
R & D推進グループ 総務企画グループ
   磯部TEL:043-276-9204  今TEL:044-520-8592
http://www.jogmec.go.jp/news/release/docs/2007/pressrelease_080328.pdf

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Powerful Ocean Waves

Tidal Wave Alternative Energy

WILL AUSTRALIA CAPTURE THE OCEAN ENERGY PRIZE?

WILL AUSTRALIA CAPTURE THE OCEAN ENERGY PRIZE?

Pioneer ventures to tap ocean power into usable electricity
Morris Kaplan, August 1, 2009 (The Australian)


【出展引用リンク】:
http://newenergynews.blogspot.com/2009/08/will-australia-capture-ocean-energy.html


【引用始め】以下の通り。
ーーーーーーーーーーー     ーーーーーーーーー     ーーー
SUNDAY WORLD:



FRENCH FIGHTING WIND
WILL AUSTRALIA CAPTURE THE OCEAN ENERGY PRIZE?
MORE SUNDAY WORLD, 8-9 (IT’S HARD TO BE BIG IN A HOT WORLD ; CANADA BUYS IN ON ICELAND GEOTHERMAL ; INDIA WANTS PAID-FOR SUN )

SATURDAY VIDEOS:

Coal Caught Lying
Where They Make Solar Shine
Climate Crock Of The Week

THINGS-TO-THINK-ABOUT FRIDAY, 8-7:

COAL CAUGHT SENDING LYING LETTERS TO CONGRESS
EVERYBODY’S GROWING ALGAE
WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH
MICHIGAN CAN BUILD GREAT WIND ON THE GREAT LAKES
HOLY SOLAR!
Sunday, August 09, 2009
WILL AUSTRALIA CAPTURE THE OCEAN ENERGY PRIZE?

Pioneer ventures to tap ocean power into usable electricity
Morris Kaplan, August 1, 2009 (The Australian)

SUMMARY
BioPower Systems, a start-up owned by Australian Timothy Finnigan and backed by Australian venture capital, has ocean energy pilot programs supplying power to Australia's Flinders Island and King Island, and the big European ocean energy developers are taking note.

Finnigan, a marine engineer, started 5 years ago with his wave and tidal technologies and $5000 and has won $12+ million in private equity investments and government grants. He formed BioPower Systems in 2006 to bring his BioWAVE, BioSTREAM, and BioBASE technologies to market.

BioWave. (click to enlarge)



Experts like the U.S.'s Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Frost & Sullivan, the UK private research authority, agree that the hydrokinetic energies have the potential to supply at least 10% of world power. They are unique among the New Energies because they are predictable and generate 24/7, giving them the potential to be used as base-load power sources.

A recent Pike Research paper (see OCEAN ENERGY ON THE VERGE) catalogued 5 major hydrokinetic technologies: (1) Tidal stream turbines (2) Wave energy (3) River hydrokinetic (4) Ocean current (5) Ocean thermal.

The BioPower Systems devices are designed to capture wave and tidal energies.

Waves are caused by winds blowing across the surface of the water (and winds are caused by temperature changes that result from variations in solar energy between the equator and the poles). Anywhere there are great swaths of open ocean, blowing winds can generate powerful waves. The winds blowing across the Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans make Australia a triple-edged wave energy powerhouse.

BioStream. (click to enlarge)


The rise and fall of tides are caused by the gravitational tugs of the moon and sun on the oceans. The rising and falling of oceans also cause currents and generate streams, such as the Gulf Stream, and affect other water bodies, causing tidal phenomena.

All these motions (kinetics) in water (hydro) can be captured and used as mechanical energy to turn a turbine to generate electricity.

The basic principle of Finnigan’s technology is no different than other ocean and wind installations. A “farm” of devices is set out. The sum of mechanical energy is transformed into electricity and transferred ashore, into the local grid via local cable transmission.

Now out of the test pool and into the ocean for pilot projects. (click to enlarge)


https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ICaGtGB27ijUHiSqLgnFtkeqsE15zsvMMZIQ5U4xJyyXcHdbz3quPuqDHQmgMuOG69611OvJxaqy-90arW3lSrcOqdlLU4B3aTykRCUUXF__s1ZqNn0jMPkaaXoQk3qjdipJXA0KHF_t/s1600-h/8-909test.jpg

Beginning with the impulse that he could figure out a way to harvest the ocean’s energy, Finnigan developed his technologies from back-of-the-envelope jottings to computer assessments rigorous enough to win early funding.

The BioPower Systems pilot projects put it now in an early, high-risk stage for investors. It is an especially challenging place to be for the engineer-turned- innovator-turned-entrepreneur trying to win backing in risk-averse Australia where coal is king. Nevertheless, venture firm CVC Reef continues to back him and they recently won recognition from National Geographic television.

The next stage is to demonstrate the technology can produce power at utility-scale volumes. The plan calls for installations with 30 megawatt capacities. Ultimately, Finnigan believes ocean energies will supply 5-to-10% of Australia’s power.

Biopower Systems recently got new financial backing from equity investment firms Lend Lease Ventures and CVC Sustainable Investments which, with the backing from CVC Reef, brings its current private funding to $6 million. Finnigan was also awarded a $5 million Renewable Energy Development Initiative grant from the Australian government. The money will be used for pilot project installations at grid-connected sites in Tasmania.


BioWave. From ceme1991 via YouTube







BioWave. From ceme1991 via YouTube

COMMENTARY
Breakthrough technologies like offshore wind and ocean energies have an enormous disadvantage in places with cheap, abundant coal supplies like the U.S. southeast and Australia. New Energy is economically competitive where electricity supplies are in higher demand and more expensive.

The biggest challenge for ocean energies, however, is enduring the harsh ocean environment and the heavy, incessant pounding of the waves.

According to Pike Research, hydrokinetic energy installations produce more energy per unit of capital cost than solar or wind energy installations. The expense is in the operations and maintenance (O&M) costs. O&M is 10% of solar energy project costs. For wind, it is 20%. Because of the harsh ocean environment, O&M is estimated by Pike Research to be as much as 40% of the cost of hydrokinetic energies. Only by developing technologies that can keep O&M costs down can the hydrokinetic energies expect to be competitive.

Finnigan took a clever approach to meet that challenge. He examined how ocean plants and animals deal with ocean forces and observed that they flex and move and give. This was his design clue. He built flexibiltiy, mobility and adaptability, what he calls “nature's mechanisms for survival and energy conversion,” into his devices and systems. They move and sway and reflexively “streamline” in extreme conditions. To give the technology these qualities, Finnigan had to make it lightweight and this fortuitously makes it less expensive.

There is development activity worldwide. (click to enlarge)


At work, the BioPower devices are fully submerged, making the durable design principles invaluable. Because they are not visible from the land or water surface, there is unlikely to be any aesthetic objection to them. This gives them a competitive advantage over the other hydrokinetic energy devices with which they will also be required to prove they will not harm aquatic life or habitat, not spoil commercial fisheries, not interfere with recreational ocean activity and not be an obstacle to the exercise of naval security operations.

As entrepreneurs like Finnigan forge ahead, the traditional excuses for not developing earth’s biggest environmental feature, its waters, disappear. Ocean, river and lake jurisdictions are settled, technologies are progressing and readily accessible materials and construction methods to generate electricity at cost effective prices are emerging.

The growth is impressive and its just getting started. (click to enlarge)










But Finnigan’s unique approach highlights the biggest remaining obstacle to the advancement of the hydrokinetic energies, the competing good ideas from the more than a hundred companies, mostly small start-ups like BioPower Systems. They are vying to get a piece of what promises to be big action, using original innovation as a wedge. In the absence of a dominant technology (like the wind industry's 3-blade turbine) or a few dominant technologies (like the solar industry's few different kinds of solar panels and few different solar power plant concepts), there can be no economies of scale and no focused technological advancement.

Will Finnigan prevail? Many companies are out ahead of him, especially at European research centers in Portugal and the UK. Perhaps one of them will establish the dominant technologies. Or perhaps the winning idea has yet to emerge but will come in Finnigan's (sic) wake.

BioStream. From ceme1991 via YouTube



QUOTES

- Finnigan, founder and owner, BioPower Systems: "There's huge opportunity; this is not just an environmental breakthrough technology but an economic one…We won't be competing against coal; we'll sit alongside wind and solar as a renewable energy source…"
- Finnigan, on the role of climate change in the development of New Energy: "There's been a change over the last year or two. It's become such an important issue to everyone. People are looking to renewable energy. Investors and government will follow to take a stake in renewable technology."
- Finnigan, explaining his background: "A marine engineer understand the wave mechanics of the ocean and the way wave and ocean imparts forces on structures. They
SUNDAY WORLD:

FRENCH FIGHTING WIND
WILL AUSTRALIA CAPTURE THE OCEAN ENERGY PRIZE?
MORE SUNDAY WORLD, 8-9 (IT’S HARD TO BE BIG IN A HOT WORLD ; CANADA BUYS IN ON ICELAND GEOTHERMAL ; INDIA WANTS PAID-FOR SUN )

SATURDAY VIDEOS:

Coal Caught Lying
Where They Make Solar Shine
Climate Crock Of The Week

THINGS-TO-THINK-ABOUT FRIDAY, 8-7:

COAL CAUGHT SENDING LYING LETTERS TO CONGRESS
EVERYBODY’S GROWING ALGAE
WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH
MICHIGAN CAN BUILD GREAT WIND ON THE GREAT LAKES
HOLY SOLAR!
Sunday, August 09, 2009
WILL AUSTRALIA CAPTURE THE OCEAN ENERGY PRIZE?

Pioneer ventures to tap ocean power into usable electricity
Morris Kaplan, August 1, 2009 (The Australian)

SUMMARY
BioPower Systems, a start-up owned by Australian Timothy Finnigan and backed by Australian venture capital, has ocean energy pilot programs supplying power to Australia's Flinders Island and King Island, and the big European ocean energy developers are taking note.

Finnigan, a marine engineer, started 5 years ago with his wave and tidal technologies and $5000 and has won $12+ million in private equity investments and government grants. He formed BioPower Systems in 2006 to bring his BioWAVE, BioSTREAM, and BioBASE technologies to market.

BioWave. (click to enlarge)

Experts like the U.S.'s Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Frost & Sullivan, the UK private research authority, agree that the hydrokinetic energies have the potential to supply at least 10% of world power. They are unique among the New Energies because they are predictable and generate 24/7, giving them the potential to be used as base-load power sources.

A recent Pike Research paper (see OCEAN ENERGY ON THE VERGE) catalogued 5 major hydrokinetic technologies: (1) Tidal stream turbines (2) Wave energy (3) River hydrokinetic (4) Ocean current (5) Ocean thermal.

The BioPower Systems devices are designed to capture wave and tidal energies.

Waves are caused by winds blowing across the surface of the water (and winds are caused by temperature changes that result from variations in solar energy between the equator and the poles). Anywhere there are great swaths of open ocean, blowing winds can generate powerful waves. The winds blowing across the Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans make Australia a triple-edged wave energy powerhouse.

BioStream. (click to enlarge)

The rise and fall of tides are caused by the gravitational tugs of the moon and sun on the oceans. The rising and falling of oceans also cause currents and generate streams, such as the Gulf Stream, and affect other water bodies, causing tidal phenomena.

All these motions (kinetics) in water (hydro) can be captured and used as mechanical energy to turn a turbine to generate electricity.

The basic principle of Finnigan’s technology is no different than other ocean and wind installations. A “farm” of devices is set out. The sum of mechanical energy is transformed into electricity and transferred ashore, into the local grid via local cable transmission.

Now out of the test pool and into the ocean for pilot projects. (click to enlarge)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ICaGtGB27ijUHiSqLgnFtkeqsE15zsvMMZIQ5U4xJyyXcHdbz3quPuqDHQmgMuOG69611OvJxaqy-90arW3lSrcOqdlLU4B3aTykRCUUXF__s1ZqNn0jMPkaaXoQk3qjdipJXA0KHF_t/s1600-h/8-909test.jpg

Beginning with the impulse that he could figure out a way to harvest the ocean’s energy, Finnigan developed his technologies from back-of-the-envelope jottings to computer assessments rigorous enough to win early funding.

The BioPower Systems pilot projects put it now in an early, high-risk stage for investors. It is an especially challenging place to be for the engineer-turned- innovator-turned-entrepreneur trying to win backing in risk-averse Australia where coal is king. Nevertheless, venture firm CVC Reef continues to back him and they recently won recognition from National Geographic television.

The next stage is to demonstrate the technology can produce power at utility-scale volumes. The plan calls for installations with 30 megawatt capacities. Ultimately, Finnigan believes ocean energies will supply 5-to-10% of Australia’s power.

Biopower Systems recently got new financial backing from equity investment firms Lend Lease Ventures and CVC Sustainable Investments which, with the backing from CVC Reef, brings its current private funding to $6 million. Finnigan was also awarded a $5 million Renewable Energy Development Initiative grant from the Australian government. The money will be used for pilot project installations at grid-connected sites in Tasmania.




COMMENTARY
Breakthrough technologies like offshore wind and ocean energies have an enormous disadvantage in places with cheap, abundant coal supplies like the U.S. southeast and Australia. New Energy is economically competitive where electricity supplies are in higher demand and more expensive.

The biggest challenge for ocean energies, however, is enduring the harsh ocean environment and the heavy, incessant pounding of the waves.

According to Pike Research, hydrokinetic energy installations produce more energy per unit of capital cost than solar or wind energy installations. The expense is in the operations and maintenance (O&M) costs. O&M is 10% of solar energy project costs. For wind, it is 20%. Because of the harsh ocean environment, O&M is estimated by Pike Research to be as much as 40% of the cost of hydrokinetic energies. Only by developing technologies that can keep O&M costs down can the hydrokinetic energies expect to be competitive.

Finnigan took a clever approach to meet that challenge. He examined how ocean plants and animals deal with ocean forces and observed that they flex and move and give. This was his design clue. He built flexibiltiy, mobility and adaptability, what he calls “nature's mechanisms for survival and energy conversion,” into his devices and systems. They move and sway and reflexively “streamline” in extreme conditions. To give the technology these qualities, Finnigan had to make it lightweight and this fortuitously makes it less expensive.

There is development activity worldwide. (click to enlarge)

At work, the BioPower devices are fully submerged, making the durable design principles invaluable. Because they are not visible from the land or water surface, there is unlikely to be any aesthetic objection to them. This gives them a competitive advantage over the other hydrokinetic energy devices with which they will also be required to prove they will not harm aquatic life or habitat, not spoil commercial fisheries, not interfere with recreational ocean activity and not be an obstacle to the exercise of naval security operations.

As entrepreneurs like Finnigan forge ahead, the traditional excuses for not developing earth’s biggest environmental feature, its waters, disappear. Ocean, river and lake jurisdictions are settled, technologies are progressing and readily accessible materials and construction methods to generate electricity at cost effective prices are emerging.

The growth is impressive and its just getting started. (click to enlarge)




But Finnigan’s unique approach highlights the biggest remaining obstacle to the advancement of the hydrokinetic energies, the competing good ideas from the more than a hundred companies, mostly small start-ups like BioPower Systems. They are vying to get a piece of what promises to be big action, using original innovation as a wedge. In the absence of a dominant technology (like the wind industry's 3-blade turbine) or a few dominant technologies (like the solar industry's few different kinds of solar panels and few different solar power plant concepts), there can be no economies of scale and no focused technological advancement.

Will Finnigan prevail? Many companies are out ahead of him, especially at European research centers in Portugal and the UK. Perhaps one of them will establish the dominant technologies. Or perhaps the winning idea has yet to emerge but will come in Finnigan's (sic) wake.



BioStream. From ceme1991 via YouTube
BioWave. From ceme1991 via YouTube




QUOTES
- Finnigan, founder and owner, BioPower Systems: "There's huge opportunity; this is not just an environmental breakthrough technology but an economic one…We won't be competing against coal; we'll sit alongside wind and solar as a renewable energy source…"
- Finnigan, on the role of climate change in the development of New Energy: "There's been a change over the last year or two. It's become such an important issue to everyone. People are looking to renewable energy. Investors and government will follow to take a stake in renewable technology."
- Finnigan, explaining his background: "A marine engineer understand the wave mechanics of the ocean and the way wave and ocean imparts forces on structures. They work on design and development of oil rigs and structures like jetties…I moved into hi-tech to try to get wave and tidal energy working. I saw how heavy structures need to resist heavy forces in the ocean. I took a simple approach, looking at what types of systems work well in the ocean…I needed to consider all the elements of what would construe a viable, commercial technology and build them one by one in a design, coming out the other end with a prototype."

The untapped potential is enormous. (click to enlarge)



bioSTREAM Tidal Power System :


- William Highland, principal, venture firm CVC Reef: "We did a lot of homework. The ocean and wave as a renewable source of energy is differentiated (from other energy forms). But for us it was also backing the man…Timothy Finnigan had good experience, he had a vision which we liked and he had a mature approach to working with investors. He understood the need to work to milestones in order to go to future funding rounds. Early stage technology ventures will hit hurdles; sometimes things fall over. You need people who will get up and surmount the hurdles."
- Finnigan, on the future of his technology: "Wave and tidal have to contribute to the mix. There are cases where wind and solar don't deliver. Wind is erratic; solar turns off at night; waves are much more regular. It fills that need for stable supply. Currently it's on the fringe because it's not yet commercial. But it is on the brink…We need a commercial-scale demonstration that (it) can compete against other energy sources. At the early stage it'll be on the expensive side; we'll be looking for government subsidy by way of rebates to make it viable while we move down the cost curve…There's a clear path to getting to market in Australia. But there's a global industry too. We see opportunities in Europe. Being a small company, one of the ways to get into markets is with strategic partnerships, like utilities or engineering construction companies or government agencies."


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【引用終わり】;以上の通り。

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Buy an ocean energy converter from Swell Fuel. :米国の若者の挑戦:波の上下運動を電気に変換

Buy an ocean energy converter from Swell Fuel.




:米国の若者の挑戦:波の上下運動を電気に変換:



 出展引用リンク:

    
  http://swellfuel.com/?gclid=CLSo3Irll5wCFY0vpAodFTY5dw



【Many university students have expressed interest in building ocean energy converters.】






Buy an ocean energy converter from Swell Fuel.


【動画リンク】:Youtube : OceanEnergyDeviceSaltirePrizeChallange
      
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BLrRUfmyP4






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