JAPANESE CHEERED BY NEW ENERGY

Ray of light amid the nuclear gloom
Editorial, August 17, 2011 (Japan Times)

"The United Nations' latest renewable energy report is a ray of sunshine amid the gloom of Japan's nuclear disaster. According to the REN21 Renewables 2011 Global Status Report, last year renewable energy accounted for 16 percent of global final energy consumption and close to 20 percent of global electricity production… despite ongoing global economic doldrums, cuts in incentives and low prices for natural gas…[I]nvestment in renewable energy reached $211 billion, around 33 percent more than in the previous year. Investments in renewable energy companies, biofuel projects and utility-scale generation projects grew to $143 billion in 2011…

"Surrounded by seas and oceans, Japan ranks sixth in the world in wave-energy potential and scientists say waves could generate more than 40,000 megawatts (MW) of power. Solar energy also has enormous potential, with the Environment Ministry estimating that enough sites are available to install a minimum 100,000 to 150,000 MW worth of solar panels — about half the nation's present power capacity. Wind power also has enormous promise, with offshore and onshore potential estimated at 1.6 million MW and 300,000 MW, respectively…"

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"As astonishing as it is in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, powerful critics of renewable energy still exist and they usually focus on its higher costs. Power generated by nuclear reactors is widely reported to cost an estimated ¥4.8 to ¥6.2 per kilowatt hour (kWh), while solar- and wind-generated power costs ¥49 and ¥9 to ¥14, respectively, per kWh…But the estimated cost of nuclear-generated power does not take into account either the enormous subsidies paid to the nuclear industry (about ¥430 billion in 2010 alone) or the tremendous costs associated with the March 11 nuclear plant disaster…Japan cannot afford another major nuclear disaster. It must develop alternatives to nuclear power.

"To this end, the government should make the development of renewable energy a national strategic priority, just as it did for nuclear energy during the 1973 oil crisis. A significant first step toward this goal would be passage of the clean energy bill now before the Diet, which would get the power companies to buy all the electricity from renewable power sources at fixed prices, thus giving impetus to green energy generation."