>
>
> Unless people are willing to buck the nuclear lobby
and shut them all
> down, there is little real incentive to develop those
viable,
> affordable alternatives. Instead, money will be
thrown at appearing to
> make them appear safe, bribing/appeasing local
communities, and all
> the rest of the nuclear agenda. But if they are shut
down, then
> serious money can be directed to developing
alternatives and
> decommissioning the unwanted nuclear plants.
>
> - -- --- ---- ----- ---- --- -- -
> Fred Uleman, with apologies for responding to what
was intended as a
> minor point in the Katz post.

Maybe this isn't a minor point. Japan looks like it will indeed go through this summer with no nuclear reactors running, since the "stress tests" are being deemed inadequate by actors who are in a position to thwart the so-called nuclear village's restart plans. A lot of gas- and coal-fired power capacity is being used to take up the slack. But we also see startling moves on efficiency, helped along by subsidies and other encouragement. For example, last February less than 10% of ceiling lights were LED, but by November that figure had apparently climbed to 70%.

Moreover, this country has increasingly robust policies in place for diffusing renewable alternatives. Most of the major local governments have strong commitments to renewables, as do many of the central agencies such as General Affairs, National Lands, the Agri Ministry (MAFF), and etc. They were all expanded in the wake of
3/11 and the ongoing collapse of centralized and nuclear-centred power as common sense. These renewable policies would be better coordinated if the DPJ - which in 2009 ran on renewables and political leadership themes - could get its collective act together. But even so, the policies are bearing real fruit, as we see for example in the spectacular jump in Japanese shipments of solar. The July 1 implementation of the feed-in tariff remains unclear as to premium prices for wind, small hydro, geothermal, etc, but the panel that advises on these matters will have 3 pro-FIT members and only 2 members who are dubious, the Exec VP of Nippon Steel having recently been replaced by Ueta Kazuhiro an enviro and energy expert from Kyoto U. The passage of the FIT law last August has seen an escalating level of investment in renewables, including Marubeni and other actors that had given up on this country. The combination of incentives from the feed-in tariff and insecurity over power supplies is steadily ramping up the activity.

This stuff isn't rocket science. The American military has been deploying renewables to power its bases for some time, and its solar programme will effectively double capacity in the US. The magnitude of the numbers include the US Navy's commitment to 50% renewables by 2020. This is all happening under the radar of the US political debate because the left hates the military but loves renewables while the right hates renewables but loves the military. Obama's somewhere in between, hugging the Pentagon, as we saw in his State of the Union praise of the military and its energy programmes (ie, back-door industrial policy to get around vested energy interests and a dysfunctional congress).

As to why Noda's totally focussed on pushing a tax increase against this backdrop and when right-wing populist Hashimoto is keen to build a green Osaka and occupy Nagatacho, that's another of life's mysteries. =