Japan has one of the highest installed renewable energy capacities in the world. The country is also one of the world’s largest consumers of energy. Lacking its own fossil fuel resources, it relies on imports for nearly all of its supply. This dependence on imports makes the country vulnerable to …
The government plans to conduct its first nationwide survey on how family income affects children’s health as concerns grow about the nation’s growing child poverty problem, officials said. More than 16 percent of children aged 17 or younger live in households that earn less than half the average income in …
The central government has not been able to identify half of some 2,400 owners of land in Fukushima Prefecture where it plans to build storage facilities for contaminated soil from the nuclear crisis, sources said. The government intends to build the complex on around 16 sq. km of land in …
Japan has taken the first step in its power industry shake-up with by establishing a nationwide grid management body on Wednesday, following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that exposed the vulnerability of the nation’s power system and pushed up electricity prices. The entity, called the Organization for Cross-regional Coordination of …
Densely populated Southeast Asian island states such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and the Philippines are likely to face more intense climate events in future, analysts said on Thursday. These islands are especially vulnerable because of their large populations and because much of their land is exposed to storm surges …
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government amended its rules on noise pollution on Wednesday in an effort to make it easier for nurseries to open in the capital, where the number of children yet to find a day care facility is the largest among all prefectures. The amendment exempts noise made by …
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday it will release all available radiation data associated with its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, in response to criticism over its failure to swiftly announce leaks of radioactive rainwater into the sea. According to Tepco, the company had a policy of disclosing radiation …
Global green energy investment surged in 2014, after two years of decline, due to a solar boom in China and Japan and record offshore wind investment in Europe, a U.N.-backed report showed. Renewables investment reached $270.2 billion last year, 16.6 percent above 2013 investment of $231.8 billion, said the report …
OTTAWA -- A United Nations-sponsored report says Canada remained among the top 10 countries in the world for investment in renewable energy last year. The annual report released this morning found global investment in renewable energies, not including hydro-electric power, climbed 17 per cent in 2014 to around $270 billion. …
Asian Development Bank has become the first multilateral development bank accredited to receive financing from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for projects to enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation in its developing member countries, the bank said in a statement yesterday. The GCF was established in 2010 under the United …
Despite mounting protests, Japan continues to finance the building of coal-fired power plants with money earmarked for fighting climate change, with two new projects underway in India and Bangladesh, The Associated Press has found. AP reported in December that Japan had counted $1 billion in loans for coal plants in …
TANEGASHIMA, KAGOSHIMA PREF. – A rocket blasted off successfully Thursday morning carrying a backup optical satellite for the government’s intelligence gathering program. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. launched the H-IIA rocket at 10:21 a.m. from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture. The satellite is …
Anti-nuclear activists on Thursday urged the governor of Shiga Prefecture to hold formal public hearings on the potential economic, social and environmental risks from two reactors in neighboring Fukui Prefecture that are moving toward restart. Representatives of the Citizens’ Commission on Nuclear Energy, a group of scholars, engineers, lawyers, and …
Two Japanese professors will be awarded the 2015 Canada Gairdner International Awards, an esteemed medical research prize considered to be a good predictor of future Nobel Prize winners, the Gairdner Foundation said Wednesday. The two are Yoshinori Osumi, a 70-year-old honorary professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Shimon Sakaguchi, …
Less than a week before the United Nations deadline for countries to file greenhouse-gas pledges necessary to keep a global climate change deal on track, it looks like most of the world is missing in action. Ahead of the March 31 target, only the European Union and Switzerland have unveiled …
Government auditors say Tepco has wasted more than a third of the ¥190 billion in taxpayer money allocated for cleaning up Fukushima No. 1. A Board of Audit report describes various expensive machines and untested measures that ended in failure. It also says the cleanup work has been dominated by …
NIIGATA – The Niigata District Court has ruled that neither the central government nor the Niigata Prefectural Government was responsible for the neurological disorders caused by mercury poisoning decades ago. Presiding Judge Yuko Otake on Monday also confirmed that seven of the 11 plaintiffs should be deemed as sufferers of …
Around 320,000 new electric vehicles were registered around the world in 2014, accounting for 43% of all electric vehicles currently on the road. The US is leading the charge, having added 117,000 electric cars, retaining the no. 1 spot for the world's biggest fleet of e-vehicles. The figures for China …
Graduate students at Mie University have produced biofuel from the region’s tangerines, saying the technique provides a use for unwanted fruit. They believe it could be promoted as a locally sourced form of renewable energy. The researchers at the university’s Graduate School of Bioresources fermented rotten and unsold fruit, and …
A total of ¥189.2 billion in taxpayers’ money has been spent since fiscal 2011 on decommissioning the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and dealing with the buildup of radioactive water there, according to the Board of Audit. The board also said Monday that Tokyo Electric Power Co. has allocated …
Four years after a tsunami ravaged much of Japan's northeastern coast, efforts to fend off future disasters are focusing on a 400-kilometer chain of sea walls, at places nearly five stories high. Opponents of the 820 billion yen ($6.8 billion) plan argue that the massive concrete barriers will damage marine …
