Tag - energy

 
 

ENERGY

A sample of tellurite glass with laser-inscribed circuits mounted on an energy-harvesting device. Researchers hope that the new technology may pave the way for clean energy in the future.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 7, 2024
Japanese and Swiss scientists create glass that generates electric current
The tellurite glass, when laser-inscribed with a circuit, produces an electric current in response to ultraviolet and visible light.
Floating solar panels at the Canoe Brook water treatment plant in Short Hills, New Jersey
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Mar 6, 2024
Pressed for space, solar farms are getting creative
There are solar arrays on top of big-box stores, solar arrays on yachts and solar farms that float.
Six months have passed since Japan started releasing treated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 4, 2024
Fukushima water release still vexing China-Japan ties
China-bound exports of Japanese fishery products in 2023 plunged by some 30% from the previous year in value terms.
J-Power is making a AU$380.9 million bid for Australian renewable energy firm Genex Power.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 4, 2024
J-Power makes bid for Australian renewables firm Genex
The move comes as part of the Japanese company's efforts to boost its renewable energy assets.
Solar panels on display at PV Expo in Tokyo on Wednesday. Japan's "transition bonds" will cover cutting-edge solar cells, as well as more controversial projects.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Mar 3, 2024
Japan wants cash for its green transition. But what are investors actually backing?
"Transition bonds" are intended to fund a wide variety of net-zero projects, but it's not clear all of them will actually help with decarbonization.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a presidential permit for energy development that he signed during a tour of an oil rig in Midland, Texas, in July 2020.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2024
How the planet could survive another Trump term
In his first term, Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, rolled back environmental regulations, unleashed gas drilling and more.
Tanks containing treated radioactive water on the grounds of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture
JAPAN / Society
Feb 28, 2024
Release of fourth batch of Fukushima treated radioactive water begins
Discharge of 7,800 metric tons of treated water over about 17 days will be the last for the fiscal year ending March.
The climate risks sparked by AI-driven computing are far-reaching — and will worsen without a big shift from fossil fuel-based electricity to clean power.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 27, 2024
AI is exploding data center energy use. A Google-created technique may help.
Data centers and transmission networks collectively contribute up to 3% of global energy consumption, with emissions comparable to the entirety of Brazil.
Vitol, the world's biggest trader, has increased its total equity to $26 billion even after paying $5 billion in record dividends after earning $15 billion in 2022.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 26, 2024
Top global energy traders face multibillion cash quandary
Most trading houses, which are privately owned and controlled by their employees, disclose little about their cash position, equity or dividends.
The Nautica, a replacement oil tanker for the decaying FSO Safer, arrives in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen, in July last year.
BUSINESS
Feb 25, 2024
Shortage of oil tankers at hand as Red Sea attacks divert trade
Only two new supertankers join the fleet in 2024 — the fewest additions in almost four decades.
Boats are docked at Matsukawaura Fishing Port in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, on Friday.
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2024
Most Japan fishing groups hit by China import ban in Fukushima row
The survey found that 29 out of 36 respondents "had felt" or "had somewhat felt" negative effects, including financial damage due to the water release.
A woman works at a fishing port in Soma, about 45 kilometers away from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, in Fukushima Prefecture, last August.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 24, 2024
Japan and China held talks over Fukushima treated water release
At the online meeting, there was no major progress in their discussions, as China keeps in place the import ban on all seafood products from Japan.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said last month that Japan's discharge of treated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the sea was consistent with international safety standards.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 23, 2024
Indonesian activists sue Japan over release of treated water
They want Tokyo to stop releasing wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.
Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Feb 21, 2024
How to reinvent yourself at 50: An IEA guide
It would be an understatement to say that the energy industry has gone through a lot of change.
Demonstrators hold Iranian flags and a huge inflated figure representing Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei holding a nuclear bomb as they protest against the Iranian regime on Friday in Munich.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 20, 2024
Iran's nuclear enrichment exceeds commercial needs, says IAEA chief
The IAEA warned at the end of 2023 that Tehran already had enough material to make three nuclear bombs if it enriches material now at 60% to beyond 60%.
Vitol, the world's largest independent oil trader, is considering opening an office in Tokyo to trade electricity, sources said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 16, 2024
Vitol considers entering Japan power market with Tokyo office
Japan's power market is attracting more overseas firms due to increased volatility amid shifts away from fossil fuels
The village of Kamoenai in Hokkaido
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 14, 2024
Hokkaido areas named for second-stage survey on nuclear waste disposal
The town of Suttsu and the area off its coast will be surveyed, as well as the area within the village of Kamoenai excluding a zone around a volcano.
The location of the water leak (left) and a close-up of the vent where the water was released at part of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 8, 2024
Tepco reports leak at Fukushima but says no contamination detected
The nuclear plant operator plans to remove soil from around the area that may have been contaminated by the 5,500 liters of radioactive water that leaked.
A man walks through panels at a solar power plant under construction in Aksu, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, in 2012.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2024
Banned Chinese solar goods worth billions find route to U.S. via India
Amid a solar boom, India’s largest panel-maker has sent millions of panels to the U.S. made with parts from a Chinese firm denied entry to the U.S. market.
The Shika nuclear plant in Ishikawa Prefecture on Jan. 4, three days after a major earthquake struck the area.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2024
Nuclear emergency guidelines to be reviewed after Noto quake
Of the 11 national or prefectural roads in Ishikawa that would be used as evacuation routes in the area, seven suffered significant damage.

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals