The Environment Ministry has developed a system to diagnose "environmentally efficient driving" and will request 60 million yen in the next fiscal year's budget to produce 300 sets of the necessary equipment, ministry officials said Tuesday.
According to the officials, the system is the first of its kind. The equipment, about the size of a videotape and placed under the front passenger seat, will automatically analyze driving information from the vehicle's control system.
It will then send daily analysis results, including fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emission levels, to the user's personal computer or mobile phone by e-mail, they said.
The messages will include rankings of users in fuel consumption, as well as comments on comparative results of emission levels during different driving stages, including idling and sudden acceleration, prompting drivers to be more conscious of the environment, the officials said.
The ministry hopes the system will promote environmentally friendly driving habits and thus help to curb emission levels of carbon dioxide, which scientists believe to be a cause of global warming.
The ministry will recruit about 300 interested participants to test the equipment next fiscal year and will dispatch technicians for installing it, the officials added.