Three years
after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Japan's nuclear plants remain
mothballed. But as Tokyo struggles to cover the costs of imported oil and
petroleum, companies have set their sights on geothermal energy.
The announcement in January that Japan suffered a record trade deficit in 2013 caused consternation in Tokyo, with analysts pointing to the need to import fossil fuels as the biggest single factor in the nation's economic slump.
The announcement in January that Japan suffered a record trade deficit in 2013 caused consternation in Tokyo, with analysts pointing to the need to import fossil fuels as the biggest single factor in the nation's economic slump.
The annual
deficit spiked to 11.47 trillion yen (112.07 billion US dollars), up 65.3
percent on the previous year, due in large part to the demand from industry and
households for crude oil and liquefied natural gas, all of which have to be
imported.
The
government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says it is committed to restarting
nuclear reactors idled since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami and weaning
the country off energy imports. But with the disaster at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi
nuclear plant still fresh in local residents' memories, there is little
likelihood of the nation's 50 reactors being switched back on in the near
future.
Adversity
into opportunity
Face with
this situation, Japanese companies have discovered that times of adversity can
also present a window of opportunity. And with the public unwilling to
countenance a return to nuclear power - at least for now - a number of firms
want to tap into an underdeveloped, virtually limitless and environmentally
friendly energy source that literally lies beneath Japan's feet.
 |
| PM Shinzo Abe is committed to restarting nuclear reactors in Japan |
A second
project, developed by Orix Corp, and Toshiba Corp., is scheduled to go online
in early 2015. The two companies see the plant in Gifu Prefecture, central
Japan, as a test site for further facilities in Hokkaido, Tohoku - the region
devastated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami - and on Japan's
southernmost main island of Kyushu.
Another
10-company consortium, headed by Idemitsu Kosan Co. and Inpex Corp., has
similarly announced plans to develop Japan's largest geothermal plant, in the
Bandai-Asahi National Park in the Fukushima Prefecture. With an anticipated
output capacity of 270,000 kilowatts, the developers are hoping to have the
plant operational in the early years of the next decade.
Oil, gas
exploration firms
"Inpex
are getting involved as they are an oil and gas exploration company and
obviously have experience and know-how in the area of drilling, so a project
like this is perfect for them," Tom O'Sullivan, an independent energy consultant
and founder of Tokyo-based Mathyos Japan, told DW.
Projects to
harness Japan's geothermal resources lag behind the solar sector, he agreed,
"but the potential is enormous in a country that sits atop the 'Ring of
Fire'" - the meeting point of tectonic plates around the Pacific Rim that
is infamous for seismic activity, volcanoes and naturally heated water rising
from deep within the earth's crust.
"All
of Japan is colored in red on the University of Tokyo's seismological
map," O'Sullivan said. "The potential is just remarkable." An
estimated 70 gigawatts of geothermal energy lie directly below Japan,
sufficient to supply more than one third of the nation's power needs,
O'Sullivan said.
 |
| Japanese companies want to tap into the underdeveloped energy source which lie under the country's feet |
But there
are also hurdles. In the same way as people in other countries are protesting
the exploitation of shale gas deposits, many in Japan are resisting the deep
boring that is required to access geothermal energy. Even the operators of the
nation's famous "onsen" hot spring resorts are concerned that the
power industry will deprive them of the resource they rely on.
High
development costs
Development
costs are also high, critics point out, with a 20 megawatt geothermal plant
requiring an initial 7 million US dollars to assess and then a further
investment of between $20 million and $40 million to complete the drilling.
The typical
seven years from discovery to commercial operation of a geothermal plant is
another concern for potential investors. A solar farm, for example, can be
returning an income in as little as 12 months, O'Sullivan points out.
Japan's
first geothermal plant (article picture) opened on the island of Hachijojima in
1999 and, to date, geothermal projects here have been relatively small-scale
affairs, in part to ensure the support of local residents.
Since the
Fukushima disaster, however, the national government has introduced a feed-in
tariff system to encourage investment in the geothermal sector and a further 20
sites across the country are presently being assessed for the suitability for
projects.
Rival
energy sources
But Yoko
Ito, a senior researcher at the Institute of Energy Economics Japan, believes
that more attention is still being focused on other potential sources of
renewable energy.
"The
feed-in tariffs were introduced in July 2012 as the government believed they
would help to increase the amount of geothermal energy being supplied, but the
total amount that has been added so far is disappointing," she said.
The 17
plants currently in operation provide a modest 520 megawatts, although this puts
Japan in eighth place in the world in terms of geothermal electricity,
according to the Geothermal Energy Association.
"Many
of Japan's projects are quite small, for a limited local area and not suitable
for commercial operations," Ito said.
Supporters
of alternatives to Japan's reliance on nuclear energy or polluting fossil fuels
hope that small-scale geothermal projects will eventually encourage investors
to sink their money into larger schemes that may make the most of the nation's
underground opportunity.
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“… 4 - Energy (again)
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“… 4 - Energy (again)
The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!
Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much….”
Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much….”
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