Reuters reports – Future grows darker for solar energy growth in Japan
On the second anniversary of a scheme aimed at boosting Japan’s renewable energy after the Fukushima crisis, its powerful industry ministry is taking steps critics say will choke off solar investment and pave the way for a return to nuclear.
Flat land is in very short supply in Japan, where every square inch not too mountainous is already used for something.
I remember seeing the land under a highway overpass in Tokyo used to grow rice.
I spent a month, this year in April-May, travelling in Japan from Hokkaido to Kyushu and did not see a single wind-turbine. The Japanese have too much respect for their landscape to destroy its appearance with such pointless, bird and bat-chomping eyesores. Go the Nuclear!
The DPJ were responsible for the original decision. Here, the DPJ (socialist) government are generally considered as lightweight and a failure (they failed to be re-elected after a single term in office).
As Philip writes (above), flat land is at a premium here. The two largest plains, Kanto (Tokyo) and Kansai (Osaka) are very densely populated. A corollary: what isn’t flat is mountains, and those mountains plus the entire NW margin of Japan are subject to very heavy snowfall in winter. We get an average of 13 metres of snow in the town where I live. Solar panels don’t work too well under a metre of snow.
Nicholas. There is a set of wind turbines NW of where I live. These are situated in the entrance to a gorge which separates a pair of 2,000 metre mountains. Otherwise, turbines are very rare.
I did a quick calculation and came up 90 sq km covered with solar panels (to end 20133), based on rated capacity.
Feed in tariffs are very high in Japan. Wikipedia say US 53 cents per kwh. Current feed in tariffs in Australia are between 7 and 9 cents per kwh.