Northeastern Japan should take advantage of abundant renewable energy sources such as wind power and solar energy for its reconstruction after the devastating March 2011 earthquake-tsunami disaster, the government’s annual environment white paper said Tuesday.
Northeastern Japan has particularly strong potential for wind power generation, estimated at up to 83 billion kilowatt-hours, along with fairly even availability of sunlight and rich geothermal energy sources, the paper said.
The introduction of solar and wind electricity generation would bring about an economic impact worth 5.4 billion yen for Iwate Prefecture, 600 million yen for Miyagi Prefecture and 2.4 billion yen for Fukushima Prefecture, as estimated by Okayama University, the report said.
Renewable energy will also contribute to enhancing the region’s economic independence and disaster responses, it said.
The report said Japanese people’s energy conservation consciousness has increased as indicated by greater-than-expected electricity savings last summer amid electricity shortages following the disaster.
Their power-saving behavior was evident in such trends as increased sales of energy-efficient light emitting diode lamps, it said.
The report proposes that Japan become the world’s leading country in achieving growth without compromising environmental protection by enhancing its new system in which major power companies purchase electricity generated with renewable energy, an environmental tax system, and municipal programs for recycling small electrical appliances.
