Before last year’s tsunami, nuclear power generated close to 30% of Japan’s electricity needs, with an installed output capacity of 46 gigawatts. But as of July 1 of this year, all but two of Japan’s 50 nuclear plants remained shut down. Whether the others eventually restart will depend on the outcome of safety tests and politics–a June 2012 survey by the Pew Research Center found that 70% of Japanese believe the country should reduce its reliance on nuclear power. Here’s a look at the alternative energy sources Japan is tapping to fill the atomic-power void and build a more secure energy future, with or without nuclear.
LIQUID NATURAL GAS
Japan is the world’s largest buyer of gas, which comes mainly from Australia, Qatar, and Southeast Asia. From 2010 to 2011, its use rose by 20%; now it supplies more than 30% of Japan’s electricity. Three planned plants will add 3.4 GW of capacity when they open in 2016, but reliance on gas puts Japan in a bind: It pays a premium on imports compared to other nations, and many contracts are set to expire in the next decade, forcing it to renegotiate or find new suppliers.
SOLAR
In 2009, just 3% of Japan’s electricity came from renewable sources other than hydroelectric. But with new government incentives, Japan could soon become the second-biggest market for solar power (after Germany). The enticing long-term contracts to providers should expedite installation of sun-soaking capacity, but Japan has a long way to go–among the G7 group of industrialized countries, only Canada got less of its energy from renewables in 2011.
CRUDE OIL
At roughly 4.5 million barrels a day, Japan’s petroleum consumption ranked third in the world in 2011. Eighty-seven percent of that oil came from the Middle East via the Strait of Hormuz, a politically vulnerable area under the control of Iran, which has threatened to cut off shipping. Additional capacity may come from the opening of mothballed plants, though the Japanese government’s pledge to lower greenhouse gas emissions favors the use of cleaner-burning natural gas.
