Permanent Nuclear Shutdown in Japan Possible by 2012: Report

[kristopher]

Permanent Nuclear Shutdown in Japan Possible by 2012: Report

Monday, September 12, 2011

Tokyo- (PanOrient News) Japan can switch off all nuclear plants permanently by 2012 and still achieve both economic recovery and its CO2 reduction goals, according to a new Greenpeace report.

Released today, the Advanced Energy Revolution report for Japan, shows how energy efficiency and rapid deployment of renewable technology can provide all the power Japan needs.

The report - with calculations by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies (ISEP) - shows that Japan’s wind and solar generation capacity can be ramped up from the existing 3,500 MW to 47,200 MW by 2015. This represents around 1000 new wind turbines deployed per year, and an increase in the current annual solar PV market by a factor of five, supplying electricity for around 20 million households. At the same time, load reduction strategies would cut Japan’s energy demand by 11,000 MW, equal to the capacity of 10 to 12 nuclear reactors.

Wind generation capacity will increase from 220 MW in 2010, to 5,000 MW/a between 2012 and 2015, and around 6000 MW/a between 2016 and 2020, according to Greenpeace. Alongside this, capacity from photovoltaics would increase from 990 MW in 2010, to 5000 MW/a between 2012 and 2015 and around 6700 MW/a between 2016 and 2020. By 2020, 43% of electricity will be produced from renewable sources, increasing to 85% by 2050.

“The tremendous potential of Japan’s renewable energy industry...
http://www.panorientnews.com/en/news.php?k=1180


AP-GrK poll: Japan Interview dates: July 29 - August 10
interviews: 1000 adults
MOR: +/- 2.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level

Q17: People sometimes talk about what the goals of the country should be for the next ten years. How important are each of the following goals to you personally?

Rebuilding the areas damaged by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami? Extremely/very important 96% ...... Somewhat important 4% ..... Not too/ not important at all 0

Developing new sources of energy: Extremely/very important 84% ...... Somewhat important 12% ..... Not too/not important at all ...4%

A high level of economic growth: Extremely/very important 51% ...... Somewhat important 38% ..... Not too/ not important at all 9%

A strong defense force: Extremely/very important 42% ...... Somewhat important 37% ..... Not too/ not important at all 20%

[kristopher]

1. What is the most important problem facing this country today?

Q3: What is the most important problem facing this country today?

This was an open ended question requiring the respondent to provide the answer. These types of questions nearly always provide a very wide range of responses and this one is no exception, with 43 different problems identified by the 1000 respondents.

Of those 43 problems only 4 were cited by more than 10% of the people. Another 11 problems were identified by between 2-4% with the rest receiving 1% or less.

The top 4 are:
Nuclear power plant accident - 36%
Earthquake and recovery - 20%
Politics (unstable, untrustworthy etc) 18%
Economy/business condition/ depression 12%

3% said "radiation contamination" with another 1% worried about "farm/animal products or food" contamination.

Combined with the results from other questions, such as the one in the OP, it is pretty clear that the potential for change in Japan's energy infrastructure is extremely high.