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© (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012.Japan to set energy policy next week but no stance on nuclear power yet
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warispeace
The future always belongs to those who have the vision to dream and adapt. Japan should be challenging Germany to create energy efficient and sustainable methods and technologies and we should all quit the endless politics of limitless growth and start to seriously conserve. Zero is the new normal!
smithinjapan
Geez... the J-government can't decide on something. Big surprise. Is there an election coming up or something? It's pretty clear no decision is going to be made until AFTER the election, and it's also quite clear that decision will involve not getting rid of nuclear power.
soldave
Am guessing that the policy will include something along the lines of, "We understand the regrettable scenario in Fukushima last year, and the dangers nuclear energy can pose. So we will not commit to further nuclear expansion until we can ensure its safety".
nath
Watch out!!!!.....Japan times has let the cat out of the bag! In its today's article, "¥50 trillion for renewables needed to end nuke power", ( http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120905a1.html ), it seems some law makers will present a scenario whereby Japanese will be left with no choice but to turn to nuke energy. They reason that it will be twice as expensive for consumers if they turned to total renewables. One Aomori even goes to the extent of giving childish reason, saying that maintaining nuke plants will be good for Japanese, as nuclear fuel will be recycled. He says they have been recycling fuel to avoid storage costs! I think this is postponing problems and making Japanese stuck with dangerous, unsustainable, expensive nuke plants for posterity. Our strength is that we have the German example to look at............
JeffLee
Legally binding regulations on insulation in homes and buildings and other eco-construction methods, I'm tired of using lots of expensive electricity for heat and cooling, only to have it quickly leak out of my house.
Ranger_Miffy2
Why should turning off 99% of the pachinko lighting affect that industry? People will find the place and go gamble (and, unfortunately, smoke, which is why you'll never find me in there). Plus insulation, and a few more easy fixes, and presto. No justification will remain for nukes on this quaking, tsunami ridden bunch o'rocks.
soldave
the-grouch. I think one of the main reasons is that it's a lot harder for the government to bully bigger companies in Japan, who have larger funds to fill people's pockets with.
Plus the government wouldn't want to damage its profitable gambling industry. Wait, pachinko's not gambling...
Disillusioned
Domestic use of electricity is only around 20%, so insulating homes will mean bugger all! 60% of energy use is industrial and commercial. 10% is used for agriculture and horticulture and 10% is used just to make electricity. It is the commercial and industrial sectors that need to curtail their use of power.
panasonicmouse
The article above mentions the ruling Democratic Party will soon have a policy about ending or trying to end nuclear power plants, but its just a policy, they made it, they can break it.
But, if we can prove that the cost for nuclear plants are too high, this will stop it. The workers to this industry are one of the costly parts, what price is paid for a life?
If more people were into knowing about the real workers in the nuclear industry they might be shocked to know who many of them are. They might be shocked to know who does the real hiring of many of the workers. Read about it, see url here. http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/09/04/nuclear-mafia-derails-democracy-in-japan/print
Its an industry and you think all industries have controls by the government, right? So, if this industry is hiring outside contractors to then hire others that hire up to 30% of the nuclear workers who have serious mental problems (but can work in some jobs) who is really the one to stop this inhuman, cost saving policy? I think the ones to stop it are the ones that are doing it. So, we can have the bank robbers catch themselves, turn themselves in and give themselves jail sentences, not going to happen.
JeffLee
@Disillusioned
Domestic use of electricity is only around 20%, so insulating homes will mean bugger all!... 60% of energy use is industrial and commercial.
Yeah, and I said "buildings," as in industrial and commercial buildings too. Buildings housing SMEs, like workshops, which account for a large part of Japan's business activities, are typically little more than shacks, lightly constructed with single pane glass and under-insulated. They are woefully inefficient, especially in a climate with a summer like Bangkok and winter like Canada.
And note, buildings are the largest single contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
as_the_crow_flies
In that case, it's not fit for purpose. Unfortunately the LDP's platform on this issue is even less clear.
Disillusioned
Can anyone else see an underlying pattern of ambiguous BS in this statement? It goes from a 100% cut in nuclear power to a 5% cut in the same time frame. They couldn't be more vague if they tried. Japan will never cut its nuclear energy reliance as long as testicaless bureaucrats run this country and swap jobs every six months. There is too much money tied up in nuclear energy for them to let it go and that is all there is too it. They say they are listening to public pressure, but history shows it means bugger all in Japan. They have never had a public referendum in Japan and never will because it would just be ignored.
the-grouch
If Japan wants to save energy, they should start pulling the plug on a lot of pachinko parlors. They consume an extraordinary amount of electricity. Why doesnt that ever come up on tv. They want only households and small businesses to cut down on power usage. If they cut half of the pachinko parlors that would give way for more family time and less infanticide or child cruelty. Doing that, your family will benefit greatly and save money too. Maybe I should get a job in the ministry of energy and propose my action against pachinkos.