All Japan’s wind farms survived the earthquake and tsunami

Some of Japans nuclear capacity has, in effect, phased itself out- very painfully. It will be interesting to see if a new direction is now taken in Japan, and indeed elsewhere.

Phasing out nuclear in Japan, environmentalresearchweb, 21 march 11, All Japans wind farms evidently survived the recent disastrous quake and tsunami – even a semi-offshore one. With nuclear power’s reputation besmirched, following the spectacular failures at Fukushima, is that the way ahead for Japan?
Japan’s heavy reliance on nuclear (29% of electricity, compared with the global 14%) ) is the result of the fact that it has few indigenous fossil fuel resources- and has to import most of its energy. As a small heavily populated series of islands, the potential for wind and other land-using renewable energy technologies has sometimes been seen as limited. But Japan at one time did lead the world in solar PV development and production, and was also a pioneer, albeit on a smaller scale, in wave energy. And it played a major role in the early stages of the global negotiations on greenhouse gas reduction- hosting the UNFCC gathering at Kyoto in 1997- which gave its name to the first global climate change protocol. However banking crises and recession pressures have weakened its economy and it has retrenched on its earlier quite strong commitment to renewable energy, and in 2009 it even opposed a replacement for the Kyoto protocol, backing the weaker non-binding Copenhagen Accord.

Could its approach now be reversed? That would require a major policy shift. A 2008 US Embassy Cable recently released by Wikileaks reported outspoken criticisms of the existing approach from Lower House Diet Member Taro Kono, with the Japanese bureaucracy and power companies seen as ‘continuing an outdated nuclear energy strategy, suppressing development of alternative energy, and keeping information from Diet members and the public’…….

Starting from a basic model (Scenario One) providing more than 50% of total energy needs from domestic renewable sources, each subsequent scenario provides variations or expansions on Scenario One, gradually reducing the reliance on imported energy, factoring in different population projections and expected improvements in renewable generation capacity and energy efficiencies, until by Scenarios Five and Six, no energy imports are required. And of course, no nuclear either.

Some of Japans nuclear capacity has, in effect, phased itself out- very painfully. It will be interesting to see if a new direction is now taken in Japan, and indeed elsewhere.

For more see http://www.energyrichjapan.info

Phasing out nuclear in Japan (environmentalresearchweb blog) – environmentalresearchweb