14 DAY TRIAL // Following the Fukushima “incident” in March, 2011, Japan was forced to instate a stand-by policy for 50 of its nuclear reactors. Whereas high officials, concerned about the country's economy, regard this as a downfall, Japanese citizens suggest making the most of this situation and going all green.
Seeing how Japan comes third in the countdown of power-generating countries, it's no wonder that the entire world is keeping a close eye on them, trying to figure out their next move.
Up until Fukushima, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), Japan's lead producer of energy from nuclear sources, was planning on investing in raising the share of nuclear energy the country produced from 30% to at leat 53%, the time limit for this project being 2030.
However, e360.yale.edu reports that, presently, Japan's population is no longer quite that eager to see their nuclear reactors up and running once again.
On the contrary, they show concern both about the costs and about the risks involved should the government and companies such as Tepco decide to carry on with their current plans.
For the time being, only 10% of Japan's energy sources are environmentally-friendly ones, with about 9% coming sheerly from hydropower.
Thus, the government may in fact be on to something when saying that simply switching from nuclear to renewable energy all of a sudden can and will put a strain on the country's economy.
However, environmentalists argue that officials are in fact blowing things out of proportion, as Japan has everything it needs to place renewable energy center-stage: workforce, raw materials and financial resources.
Interestingly enough, local communities are already working towards making Japan a greener nation. Recent reports indicate that a total of $654 million (about €525 million) of their own funds were invested in renewable energy throughout the course of this fiscal year, which means that the Japanese government might find itself forced to turn to similar actions soon enough.
By investing in renewable energy sources, Japan local communities not only succeed in lending a helping hand to the natural world.
On the contrary, they also help themselves, as new jobs are created and the people living in these regions gain more independence from the central administration.
Should things continue to unfold in this manner, it is quite likely that Japan will soon follow in the footsteps of Germany and turn to environmentally-friendly technologies to provide it with the energy it needs to carry on with its daily routine.