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Many argue that the carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas but is produced in so little quantities to cause harm. The 2,200 Japanese families who are participating in the trials had to shell out almost $10,000.00 for the lease of the units to Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.(Panasonic) Several other Japanese firms are hard at work with the new greener alternative to oil based power such as Toyota (which already produces hybrid vehicles powered by them), Toshiba (Consumer Electronics Manufacturer) and Honda Motor Corp. They are all working to produce and develop a home-power generator unit for home use which proves to be cleaner and greener. Cost seems to be the biggest deterrent to widespread use of these green technology generators but the future developments and competition is expected to get prices down in the next few years.

Japan has over 2,200 homes powered by small fuel cells which are greater than many Western nations. Most major Japanese cities have almost all homes supplied with natural gas which is used for heating and cooking making their use simpler unlike in the US where there is a low percentage of homes with piped in supply. These suitcase sized fuel cell units provide enough electricity to power and provide heated water for the average Japanese home. The charming detail about the technology is that the wasted electricity during transmission is eliminated totally for power generation is home based. the only danger is that the power generation unit produces carbon monoxide but has oxygen added to it (which is also a by-product of the power generation process within the same unit) making it into less harmless carbon dioxide.