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Life-Size Moving Gundam in Yokohama Is Powered By Wind Energy
posted on by Kim Morrissy
Bandai Namco Group announced on Wednesday that the Gundam Factory Yokohama, the facility which houses a life-size RX-78-2 Gundam statue, has been powered by Yokohama City's Hama Wing wind power plant since May. The facility currently generates zero carbon emissions from electricity.
The Evolving G Corporation, which runs the Gundam Factory Yokohama, aims to raise public awareness of the need to switch to renewable energy sources by collaborating not only with local governments but also with the entertainment industry. The company collaborated with the Minna Denryoku electric company, and the two are acting in support of Yokohama City's "Zero Carbon Yokohama" initiative.
The electricity is provided through Minna Denryoku's Enection 2.0 platform, which utilizes blockchain technology to track electricity usage. The system issues tokens every 30 minutes according to the amount of electricity generated and the amount demanded. The power plant then supplies the corresponding amount of power to the client.
The 100% renewable energy rate is achieved by purchasing non-fossil certificates for feed-in tariff (FIT) electricity, which guarantee when a zero carbon emission transaction has been enacted. As a measure to support investment in renewable energy sources, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry sets a fixed price for electricity which is paid to renewable energy producers.
Bandai Namco Group aims to attain a 35% reduction of carbon emissions by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050. It aims to implement new energy-saving and sustainable technologies across all of its amusement facilities, factories, office spaces, and other areas of operation.
The group announced its "Gundam Universal Century Development Action" sustainability project in June, which aims to address problems related to human population and the earth's environment by platforming new ideas and technology.
The 18-meter-high (59-foot-tall) life-size, moving Gundam held its grand opening for public viewing on December 19. A behind-the-scenes online tour of the facility will be streamed with English subtitles on October 3 at 6 P.M. Pacific Time. It will be an edited cut of the previous online tours held on May 8 and August 21. The Gundam Global Challenge's technical director, Akinori Ishii, will provide technical explanations about the moving Gundam. The stream will be available for archive viewing on the OPENREC.tv platform until 11:59 P.M. Pacific Time on October 7. (Tickets cost 1,400 yen, or approximately US$13.)
Bandai Namco currently has three life-size Gundam statues on display. A life-size "transforming" RX-0 Unicorn Gundam statue from the Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn anime debuted at Tokyo's Diver City complex in September 2017. Sunrise then unveiled the moving RX-78-2 Gundam statue from the first Mobile Suit Gundam anime in Yokohama on December 19. The life-size statue of the ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam from Mobile Suit Gundam Seed debuted in Shanghai on May 28. (The Unicorn Gundam statue in Tokyo replaced a previous, mostly immobile RX-78-2 Gundam statue.)
A fourth statue will be unveiled in Fukuoka's Mitsui Shopping Park LaLaport in spring 2022. The statue will depict a new mobile suit named the RX-93ffν Gundam, heavily based on Amuro Ray's RX-93 ν Gundam (pronounced "Nu Gundam") that appeared in the Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack anime film.
Source: Gundam.Info (Link 2)
Disclosure: Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., is a non-controlling, minority shareholder in Anime News Network Inc.
