Operators began gearing up the nuclear reactor at Kyushu Electric Power’s 31-year-old Sendai plant in the city of Satsumasendai last week. Sendai is about 600 miles (1,000 km) southwest of Tokyo on energy-poor Japan’s southernmost main island of Kyushu. The community closest to the plant and governor of the prefecture … [continued]
The experimental offshore wind energy project to be located outside of Fukushima that was started all the way back in early 2012 has been coming along, according to recent reports. Sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry — with help from a consortium featuring Marubeni (project integrator), the … [continued]
At long last, Japan has entered its official Intended Nationally Determined Contribution into the pool of national climate pledges for the UN’s Paris COP21 talks in December. The Paris summit aims for a worldwide agreement to limit global average temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels, … [continued]
Originally published on Green Living Ideas. Earlier this year, Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) began moving closer to selecting a location for the new Deep Geological Repository (DGR) they have been tasked to build. The DGR will be the final storage facility for the more than 48,000 tonnes of … [continued]
Originally Published on the ECOreport For the first time in forty years, the world’s C02 emissions have been held in check. Though they continue to rise in North America, China’s decreased for the first time in recorded history and Europe’s emissions decreased another 5% in 2014. EU’s CO2 Emissions Decreased … [continued]
The fourth anniversary of the multiple meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi no. 1 power plant passed in relative quiet, but events there have hardly become less troubling. The good news first: TEPCO and its contractors have now completed the move of all spent and fresh fuel from the high and … [continued]
Japanese media reported on Thursday that the nation is studying a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by around 20% by 2030. Sources differ about the base year (2005 or 2013). From this informally rendered pledge—the first time Japan has mentioned a number—the nation may proceed to file an Intended Nationally … [continued]
So who’s left on the villains list — the roster of top national polluters in the developed world who have not yet made their contributions? For various reasons, Japan, Canada, Australia, South Korea, and South Africa have missed their INDC deadlines. Franz Perrez, the Swiss climate representative, told the Sydney … [continued]
A 42 MW geothermal power station is being planned by Electric Power Development Co. for a site in northern Japan’s Akita prefecture.
Japan often seems to exemplify the pushmi-pullyu nature of energy politics. It’s perhaps most evident in the warp and woof of nuclear power’s position since the meltdowns at Fukushima. But signs are that renewables may be regaining strength, within limits. In the more favorable news, the country’s Ministry of Economy, … [continued]
