westward group tokyo energy news post-fukushima japan chooses coal over renewable energy

8/12/2019 Westward Group Tokyo Energy News Post-Fukushima Japan Chooses Coal Over Renewable Energy

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Westward Group Tokyo Energy News Post-FukushimaJapan Chooses Coal Over Renewable Energy

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ispushing Japans coal industryto expand sales at home andabroad, undermining hopesamong environmentalists thathed use the Fukushimanuclear accident to switch thenation to renewables.

A new energy plan approvedby Japans cabinet on April 11designates coal an importantlong-term electricity source while falling short of setting specific targets for cleaner energy from wind, solar andgeothermal. The policy also gives nuclear power the same prominence as coal in Japans energystrategy .

In many ways, utilities are already ahead of policy makers. With nuclear reactors idled forsafety checks, Japans 10 power companies consume d 5.66 million metric tons of coal inJanuary, a record for the month and 12 percent more than a year ago, according to industryfigures.

You cannot exclude coal when you think about the best energy mix for Japan to keep energycosts stable, said Naoya Domoto, president of energy and plant operations at IHI Corp., adeveloper of a technology known as A-USC that burns coal to produce a higher temperaturesteam. One way to do that is to use coal efficiently.

Japans appetite for coal mirrors trends in E urope and the U.S., where the push for cheaperelectricity is undermining rules limiting fossil fuel emissions and supporting cleaner energy. Inthe U.S., a frigid winter boosted natural gas prices, providing catalyst for utilities to extend the

lives of dirtier coal plants. Germany, Spain and Britain are slashing subsidies for renewables torein in the cost of electricity.
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Mixed Bag

For renewable energyenvironmental groups, Japanspolicy is a mixed bag offerslittle in the way of policydirection. Instead, it backs thestatus quo, calling for reactorsshut after the 2011 disaster tobe restarted while offering notargets for the amount ofpower coming from wind andsolar.

What had been expected of

the basic plan was to present a major policy to s witch from nuclear power, the JapanRenewable Energy Foundation said in a statement. But the basic plan shows that thegovernment has given up fulfilling that role. The plan does not promote a shift from old energypolicies.

WWF Japan urged the government to set a target to promote clean energy as soon as possible.

The energy plan failed to present the spirit of innovation, the conservation group said in astatement April 11. Japan basically needs to recognize an increase in coal use is a serious is suefor climate change. The country needs to push for reduction of carbon dioxide.

Fossil Fuels

In calling for technology tobe used to soften coalsenvironmental impact, theplan acknowledges thattraditional fossil fuels pollutemore and carry higher costs.

Before the accident, Japan

got 62 percent of itselectricity from fossil fuels,and nuclear made up abouta third, according togovernment figures. Since then, utilities reverted to fossil fuels such as liquefied natural gas andcoal to replace nuclear capacity taken offline. Those thermal power sources generated about 90percent of Japans electricity in fiscal 2012, according to figures in the energy plan.


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Buying more fossil fuels comes at a cost. The resource-poor nation has run 20 consecutivemonths of trade deficits and last year backtracked on promises to cut greenhouse gasemissions. That jarred United Nations talks involving 190 nations discussing ways to limit globalwarming.

Export Hopes

Its crucial to have diverse energy source s for a country like Japan, which relies on imports forall energy, said Akira Yasui, an official in charge of coal policy at the Ministry of the Economy,Trade and Industry. Our basic stance is to use coal while caring for the environment as muchas pos sible. Coal is economical and stable in supply.

Abes government is supporting the development and export of advanced coal technology fromJapan. According to a growth strategy released in June by the prime minister, the nation

intends during the 2020s to commercialize A- USC technology. Its also seeking to sell aequipment that combines fuel cells with a process called integrated gasification combined cycleto improve the efficiency of power generation.

By applying Japans most advanced coal technology , the U.S., China and India can reduce acombined 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, far above Japans totalemissions, Toshimitsu Motegi, Japans trade minister, told parliament in February.

Fukushima Disaster

Japans interest in IGCC technology is on display at the Nakoso Power Stations No. 10 coalpower generator, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of the wrecked Fukushima nuclearplant. The unit, set up in 2007 to demonstrate the feasibility of the technology, can produceabo ut a quarter of a typical nuclear reactors 1 gigawatt of electricity.

Had it not been for the Fukushima disaster three years ago, the generator would have beenclosed. Today, its up and working after repairs. The station, operated by a joint venturebetween Tokyo Electric Power (9501) Co. and Tohoku Electric Power (9506) Co., posted recordoutput for the year ended March 31.

This was a research generator, Yoshitaka Ishibashi, associate director and executive general

manager at the plant, said in an in terview. Theyre usually dismantled once the study is over.But nuclear reactors were suspended, power supply was tight, and 250 megawatt is not anegligible capacity. So it was turned into a commercial one.


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More Coal

Tokyo Electric, better known as Tepco, has other plans to use more coal for the stations thatserve 29 million customers around the nations capital.

The utility plans to add two more IGCC generators at the Nakoso station and at its Hirono plant,also in Fukushima. A more traditional 600-megawatt coal-fired generator at the Hirono sitebegan operating in December.

Power generation costs from IGCC can eventually be reduced to conventional coal powergeneration levels at 9.5 yen (9 cents) per kilowatt hour, though that may not happen for 10years to 15 years, said Ishibashi at the Nakoso power station.

The plan represents nothing but anachronism, said Mie Asaoka, head of the Kiko Network, aKyoto, Japan-based environmental organization.

westward group tokyo energy news post-fukushima japan chooses coal over renewable energy

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