Japanese firms join global calls to ditch coal-fired power

So long as there are lots of wires attached to the turbines, they'll blend right in with the Japanese landscape.

Japan has no political will to undertake the large wind power projects that have already been completed or are being started in Europe.

Cinstant inaction...

The only way to get this govenment to develop sensible policies - Shame them into acion - which is what more and more countries are doing - leaving Japan behind when it comes to transitioning to renewables.

Sorry, should have been "plants

Actually I find the nuclear pants concept kind of intriguing.

shift away from its dependence on coal for power generation

and find more ways to conserve resources of all sorts.

funny, my area has embraced solar panels and wind turbines without much complaint - though I guess our local nuclear power station looming over us is probably an influence on the lack of complaints

Windfarms are most efficient on flat areas where the wind doesn't eddy.

Think the North Sea.

These eddies are created yt updrafts in mountains and valleys. They put unacceptable stresses on the propeller blades and have led to many (expensive) failures especially in Spain.

Fisher unions in most suitable parts of Japan are resisting the instalation of windfarms in their traditional fishing areas.

Two bright lights on the horizon are that Hitachi has developed a blade design the can deal with and use updrafts and eddies. They can eventually be installed in mountainous areas. It is being further developed, but as with a lot of these new technologies the cahallenge is to bring the producion cost down.

The other interesting development is the fishers from Norway and Scotland have been invited to Japan to inform Japanese fishers firsthand on their (positive) experiences with wind farms.

Ever skeptical Gary suspects that financial compensation would convince Japanese fishers better than a lecture fron a Norwegian or a Scot.

All in all there is a very strong push behind the scenes to introduce large scale windfarms to Japan and when the technological and socio/political problems have been overcome we can start complaining about how all of the windfarms are blighting the scenery. LOL.

gary

Anything but nuclear power.

It will be the humans going extinct but cockroaches, rats and maybe cats will have a field day!

funny, my area has embraced solar panels and wind turbines without much complaint - though I guess our local nuclear power station looming over us is probably an influence on the lack of complaints

Hi Isa

When I wrote, "we can start complaining about how all of the windfarms are blighting the scenery. LOL."

I meant we, foreigners.

I regularly dive and camp on the coast of Akita where there are a string of windturbines along the coast. All of the locals I asked said that they were a good thing. No complaints from them.

gary

I am a 65 year old man. I have been involved in a natural resource industry for 45 of those years. I can tell you, straight up, that climate change has had and continues to have a direct negative effect on the products that my industry produces and I am sure all of you eat. I figure that, if I am lucky, I have approx 20 more years on this Earth before I move on. My children and grandchildren will live in a ever degrading world due to the burning of fossil fuels. Any critical thinker knows this to be true due to the mountain of research that we all have access to. It may be too late but we all have an obligation to do ALL that we can NOW to wean ourselves from polluting and destructive fossil fuels and support and implement non-polluting and sustainable sources of energy . Sure, it will require various levels of sacrifice from all of us but to do nothing is incredibly selfish and hateful.

With all these whims of cutting CO2 production because of climate change the craziest thing is, I are change and excessive CO2 production were documented over 40 years ago and it was ignored. Now, even if all CO2 production was stopped globally today it would still take possibly millions of years for the CO2 to be dissipated and absorbed back into the earth. This is only the beginning of the effects of climate change. Things are going to get much worse with hotter and dryer summers and more violent storms. The global warming causing the melting of ice caps and glaciers cannot be reversed and will only get more rapid as the earths average temps increase. Instead of being political and jumping on the ban CO2 production bandwagon these companies and world leaders should be more concerned about how much the earth will change in the next 50 years and how they will deal half of the world’s population starving as the rice belts through Asia are inundated with salt water.

Japan will be a cold and dark place without coal or gas power plants. Only a few of the nuclear plants have gained or will gain approval for restart. Perhaps these businesses should be more focussed on ways to conserve energy in Japan. They can start with insulating houses and then move on to having office buildings shut down at 8pm every day. I don't think these companies have thought this through at all. They've just put their hand up to appease the masses.

the global fight against climate change.

Here is my take against this, nature will do whatever it needs to do with or without man's interference. The earth is a much living planet that people forget. The article speak about coal but what about the numerous ash filling, gaseous releases from volcanoes that have peaked world wide. hmmm. What about underwater volcanic eruptions that emit billions of methane particulates into the ocean bottom, reducing oxygen and microbes important and significant in the food chain for sustainable life deep below. hmm.

Wind power and solar energy will not replace oil and coal as reliable sources of energy. Building coal fired power plants in Vietnam and Indonesia is sensible because those countries can import cheap Australian coal.