Tag - renewables

 
 

RENEWABLES

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.
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.
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.
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 hydrogen storage tank with an under-construction green hydrogen compressor at a liquid fuels facility in Sasolburg, South Africa.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 13, 2024
South Africa’s biggest green-hydrogen project woos Japanese investors
If approved, the plant will use 3,700 megawatts of renewable power generation capacity to split water to produce 1 million tons of hydrogen a year.
A solar farm in Switzerland. Solar power is leading the power’s sector’s transformation, with investment in the area set to reach $500 billion this year.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Jun 6, 2024
Clean energy spending set to reach twice that on fossil fuels, IAEA reports
Nonetheless, continued spending on coal, gas and oil remains at a level that’s too high to conform with global climate goals.
Sumitomo says it is aiming to install 500 megawatts or more of battery storage in Japan by March 2031.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 5, 2024
Sumitomo aims to install 500 MW of battery storage in Japan by 2031
The initiative is part of the trading house's broader efforts to bolster its energy transformation business.
Energy companies are increasingly calling for greater use of nuclear power as geopolitical tensions raise the risk of energy supply disruptions and power price hikes.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2024
In Japan, energy security fears put nuclear back in favor for 2040 plan
The Japanese government wants to lock in greater use of nuclear energy, along with wind and solar power, to secure stable energy supply.
A hydrogen storage tank and loading system at a liquefied hydrogen receiving terminal in Kobe. Japan and the European Union have agreed to work together on policies related to clean hydrogen.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Jun 4, 2024
Japan and EU agree to work on creating hydrogen demand and supply
Tokyo sees hydrogen as a new and cleaner source to gradually substitute liquefied natural gas, part of Japan's path to carbon neutrality by 2050.
As mind-numbingly big as the clean-energy price tag may be, it’s actually a bargain compared with the potential economic destruction of unabated climate change.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2024
$215 trillion to save the planet is a bargain
And as mind-numbingly big as $215 trillion may be, it’s actually a bargain compared with the potential economic destruction of unabated climate change.
Nawaf Al-Osimy, chief technical officer of the Jazlah Water Desalination plant, which draws vast quantities of water from the Persian Gulf and makes it drinkable, in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, on March 4.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
May 30, 2024
Saudi Arabia eyes a future beyond oil
The kingdom is trying to juggle its still-vital petroleum industry with alternative energy sources like wind and solar as it faces pressure to lower carbon emissions.
Massive oil reserves mean the U.S. is less enthusiastic about energy transition than China, which is charging ahead with clean technology.
COMMENTARY / World
May 30, 2024
America is joining its frenemies back in the fossil fuel club
For most nations, the energy transition isn’t just sought for climate reasons, it’s also a strategic and economic necessity.
Shipping containers at the port in Ningbo, China, March 27, 2024. The U.S. and Europe are trying to catch up to China’s lead in industrial policy, a rival skilled in using all the levers of government and banking to dominate global manufacturing.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 28, 2024
How China pulled so far ahead on industrial policy
In 2022, Beijing accounted for 85% of all clean-energy manufacturing investment in the world, according to the International Energy Agency.
A 2-megawatt solar farm in the city of Fukushima. “Megasolar” refers to farms with a minimum output of 1 MW of electricity — enough to power around 300 homes for a year.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
May 26, 2024
‘Megasolar’ is a dirty word in Japan. Where do solar projects go from here?
Vocal campaigns are pushing back against projects as dangerous eyesores, but "dual-use" approaches and community engagement may offer a solution.
JERA's Hekinan thermal power station in Aichi prefecture. JERA plans to invest in renewable energy and new fuels.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2024
JERA to invest $32 billion in LNG, renewables and new fuels
JERA plans to phase out inefficient coal-fired thermal power by fiscal year 2030.
Wind turbines stand next to solar panels at a solar plant in Awaji, Hyogo Prefecture. Japan's energy plan under a review is expected to call for raising the renewable energy sources in the power mix.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
May 16, 2024
Japan begins review of basic energy plan amid spread of AI
Power demand could expand further if growth in the amount of information processed by advanced AI accelerates.
A double-hulled tanker sits docked in front of the Burnaby Refinery, near Vancouver. Natural gas is a key component of the city’s energy use.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
May 2, 2024
How sewage is helping along the energy transition
Capturing waste heat worldwide could prevent burning nearly 30 million barrels of oil daily or 650 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
JAPAN / Politics
May 1, 2024
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Widespread use of biomass as car fuel makes Brazil an ideal import partner for Japan.
A liquefied natural gas tanker arrives at a Tokyo Gas LNG terminal in Yokohama. Despite a decline in domestic gas demand, Japanese companies are looking to maintain their stake in overseas LNG markets, especially in Asia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 29, 2024
The double standard of Japan’s energy companies abroad
In Japan, energy companies like Tokyo Gas are striving to cut emissions. But overseas, they're shoring up LNG markets, making for a very different picture.

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition