A number of reports over recent months suggest that Japan is having to make some choices between power from nuclear versus coal versus renewables.
After the terrible tsunami of 2011 and the damage it did to the Fukushima nuclear plant, of course, the country shut down all but two[1] of its nuclear plants – necessarily driving it to reliance on liquefied natural gas and coal. Four years after the event, a continued increase in the use of coal has become a growing concern, according to a story in online news source The Energy Mix September 15, which reported that technicians in Japan had only then reopened their first nuclear reactor since Fukushima. As reported in the feature article, Japan is setting a target of 26% for coal in its energy mix by 2030.
The country now finds itself caught somewhat between a rock and a hard place, with on the one hand, having formalized over the summer a target to cut climate-warming gases 26 percent by 2030 from 2013 levels, while on the other hand planning to build 40 or more[2] new coal-fired power plants over the next decade.
Reuters reported the country’s Environment Minister, Yoshio Mochizuki, as pushing back against the increasing reliance on coal, having raised objections to a 1.2 GW plant in June, and in August to another of 1.07 GW.
As one way out of the dilemma, the country has reportedly decided to move to higher efficiency technologies from coal-fired generation, by requiring thermal efficiencies of at least around 40-42 percent as seen in “ultra-super-critical” plants. METI’s deputy director Yuichi Takagi has touted the merits of integrated gasification combined cycle, which can cut emissions by 20 percent.
Japan has also been accused of pushing coal-fired generation on developing countries. Japan provided the largest amount of coal financing of any country, with over $20 billion of finance from 2007 to 2014 – 26% of total international support for coal, according to a study by Natural Resources Defense Council, Oil Change International and the World Wide Fund for Nature released in June.
1. Wikipedia, “ Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.”
2. According to Reuters, “ “Japan must do more to curb coal-fired power plants –experts,” September 25. The Daily Caller news foundation, May 9, citing local environmental organization Kiko Network, puts the number at 43 (Japan Defies Obama — Plans On Building 43 Coal Plants).
[1] Wikipedia, “ Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.”
[2] According to Reuters, “ “Japan must do more to curb coal-fired power plants –experts,” September 25. The Daily Caller news foundation, May 9, citing local environmental organization Kiko Network, puts the number at 43 (Japan Defies Obama — Plans On Building 43 Coal Plants).