Tag - energy

 
 

ENERGY

While Tokyo has secured enough fuel to deal with expected surges in power demand as temperatures rise this summer, economy minister Ken Saito is urging people not to waste electricity.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 12, 2024
Japan on ‘high alert’ for summer power shortages, economy minister says
Thermal power facilities put on maintenance earlier this year are set to come online by end-July while earlier fixes are expected for other equipment failures.
The cooling towers of the Saint-Laurent-Des-Eaux nuclear power plant site near Orleans, France, in 2023. Long a nuclear-power holdout, Australia is now debating a switch that could see the country end its decadeslong resistance to the energy source.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Jul 11, 2024
One of the last holdouts, Australia weighs nuclear power pivot
Australia's potential turn to nuclear power is in line with a global trend amid a rethink about energy security and efforts to reduce emissions across the world.
A truck drives along India's Tezpur-Tawang highway, which runs to the Chinese border, in the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Plans for the hydropower stations in the state are expected to be announced in the 2024/2025 federal budget that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government will unveil on July 23.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 10, 2024
India races to build power plants in region claimed by China, sources say
The construction of 12 hydropower stations in the northeastern Himalayan state of Arunachal Pradesh could raise tensions with Beijing that lays claims to the region.
Coal piles at Jera's Hekinan thermal power station in Hekinan, Aichi Prefecture, in October 2021
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Jul 8, 2024
Japan should phase out coal power by 2035, climate group says
The nation should adjust its national targets and slash emissions by two-thirds by the middle of the next decade, according to the Japan Climate Initiative.
A gyrotron, which is used to heat plasma for nuclear fusion reactions, developed by Kyoto Fusioneering
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Jul 7, 2024
Kyoto Fusioneering looks toward a 'Made in Japan' approach for nuclear fusion
Although it recognizes that international collaboration is key, the startup sees the country playing an integral role in the fusion ecosystem.
Newly elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks in Tehran on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 7, 2024
Iran vote winner could ease, but won't end, nuclear tensions
Masoud Pezeshkian's victory in Iran's presidential elections has given a rare boost to efforts for scaling down Tehran's row with the West.
Visitors walk past an Amazon exhibition booth during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jul 6, 2024
Is AI a major drain on the world's energy supply?
The spread of data centers across the globe is throwing a spotlight on the amount of energy the technology uses as well as its impact on the environment.
Power lines in the Yanqing district of Beijing in 2021
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 5, 2024
China, struggling to exploit an energy storage boom, calls for more
The drive boosts home-grown battery giants but some experts say more must be done to address low utilization and losses for operators.
An interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, on June 6
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2024
Interim storage facility for nuclear fuel nears completion in Aomori
The site is expected to play a key role in Japan's efforts to establish a nuclear fuel cycle, but residents are concerned the temporary facility will become permanent.
Sumitomo Corp. President Shingo Ueno speaks during an interview at the company's head office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 1, 2024
Sumitomo looks to tap U.S. shale boom despite exiting production
The company will seek to boost sales of pipelines used in U.S. shale fields.
Wind turbines near New Brighton, England. According to the International Energy Agency, Japan could produce over 900% of its energy demand with offshore wind alone.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Jun 30, 2024
Japan looks farther out to sea for overdue wind power boost
A bill enabling development in the country's exclusive economic zone is seen as key to Japan achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
The central government will provide subsidies to slash electricity and city gas bills of ¥4 per kilowatt-hour of electricity and ¥17.5 per cubic meter of city gas.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2024
Japan to offer average of ¥2,125 per month in subsidies for utility bills
The move is designed to cushion the impact of rising prices on households in the summer, which is expected to be among the hottest on record.
The No. 4 and No. 5 units of Jera's Hekinan thermal power station in Aichi Prefecture on March 13
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 26, 2024
Jera ends ammonia co-firing trial with positive results
The firm said that nitrogen oxides levels were no higher than when firing coal alone.
Reactors Nos. 3 and 4 of the Oi nuclear power plant in Oi, Fukui Prefecture
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2024
Japan's nuclear watchdog OKs extension of Kansai Electric's Oi plant
It is the first time for the nuclear regulator to approve a long-term facility management plan based on the green transformation law.
Turbines at a wind farm in Suttsu, Hokkaido. A renewable energy initiative called on Japan to triple its capacity of clean electricity.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 25, 2024
Japan urged to triple renewables capacity by 2035
The world's fourth-largest economy is heavily reliant on fossil fuels
A wind farm in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture. For Japan's future energy roadmap to center on clean sources, the government should reform the institutions overseeing energy policy to avoid vested interests from slowing the transition down.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 24, 2024
It’s time for Japan to set up a climate change agency
The government is currently reviewing Japan's Strategic Energy Plan. But who's shaping this key document for the future? It's mostly older men with vested interests.
Seiji Izumisawa, president of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, says the firm is almost finished designing its next-generation nuclear reactor.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2024
Mitsubishi Heavy moving closer to building new reactor in Japan
The firm can start building the facility once a site for it is established and some late-stage tests are completed.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings' Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, in November 2022. The plant was shuttered in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster, and has sat idle since.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2024
World’s largest nuclear plant sits idle while energy needs soar
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant has the potential capacity to power more than 13 million households.
The energy transition in coal-dependent emerging nations like the Philippines will determine the success of global efforts to hit net zero targets and curb the worst impacts of climate change.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jun 22, 2024
Philippines emerges as Southeast Asia renewable power pacesetter
The energy transition in coal-dependent emerging nations like the Philippines will determine the success of global efforts to hit net zero targets.
A view of the Unit 4 reactor of Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China, in 2018
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2024
U.S. as many as 15 years behind China on nuclear power, report says
Beijing's state-backed technology approach and extensive financing give it the edge over its rival, the study by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation said.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan