ENVIRONMENT-JAPAN: Solar Power vs Global Warming

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Nov 29 1997 (IPS) - For producers of clean energy technology, the climate change talks that start in Kyoto, Japan on Monday are a precious opportunity to teach bickering government delegations about the wisdom of harnessing nature’s power.

Armed with technologies for generating pollution-free electricity through solar and wind power, industry is joining hands with green groups to prove to the world’s worst polluters that they can do better — if they try harder.

From Dec 1 to 10, more than 160 countries will meet in Kyoto to set binding targets for the reduction of industrialised nations’ emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide from the burning of oil, coal and gas, that are rapidly warming the atmosphere.

Scientists say global warming is projected to upset weather systems, ecosystems and whole economies in the future. But while world attention is focused on the need to cut emissions, there is not enough discussion of the habits that feed their production — the reliance on fossil fuel all around the world.

Thus, this is the time to prove that viable alternatives to fossil fuel already exist, says Mikiko Iwama of Japan’s Kyocera Corp., a leading company in the solar electricity business.

Japan is a major player in the development of solar technology — even while it has come under fire from critics who find its proposed targets for cutbacks in greenhouse gas emissions too conservative to be meaningful.

In a report issued earlier this year on cutting back on the use of fossil fuels, the environmental group Greenpeace said Japan is undertaking “the world’s largest ever deployment of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology” and is a leader of the “solar revolution”.

Its solar programme aims to install solar PV on some 70,000 homes by the year 2000, and government support, including extension of financial support to approved homeowners, is helping stimulate a growing solar market in the country.

The number of applications for installation of solar technology in homes has grown tenfold in the last five years, resulting in many more requests being turned down than the government is able to accept. In 1996, out of 11,191 solar homes that filed applications, only 1,866 got approvals. For 1997, the goal is installation of solar equipment in 10,000 homes.

Converting homes to solar power entails installing solar cells arranged in panels on roofs that convert photons from the sun directly into clean electricity.

Japan’s solar programme is already the envy of countries like Britain, Greenpeace says, adding that the Japanese government invests 133 times as much as Britain in solar power.

Still, in what seems to be an indication of how difficult it is to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, solar power lags behind fossil fuel and nuclear power in Japan.

“What we need is more government funds and a stronger political will that says no to the dangerous nuclear alternative and yes to less expensive and as clean solar power,” said Hideaki Takemura of Greenpeace Japan.

Environmentalists want even more support from the government for the solar programme. Although government subsidy has risen from 15.4 million U.S. dollars in 1994 to an estimated 103 million dollars in 1997, the amount is still far lower than the budget for nuclear power generation and research.

This story is true globally — funds spent on solar programmes are but a fraction of money spent by nearly all governments on subsidising and supporting extraction of fossil fuels and developing nuclear energy.

Japan’s future energy plans remain heavily reliant on crude oil and nuclear power. The country ranks eighth among a list of 10 top polluters on a per-capita basis, led by the United States and Canada.

Under its energy programme, Japan has projected the need for new sources of energy equivalent to 80 million kilolitres of crude oil, for it to meet its requirements by the year 2030. The government says nuclear power must increase to two and a half times its present level, which fills 30 percent of total demand.

The energy sector receives one percent of Japan’s national budget. Green campaigners say most of the money is spent on the construction of nuclear plants and the development of traditional energy resources, adding that solar power gets less than 1 percent of the current energy budget.

As a result, solar photovoltaic technology is quite a way from becoming a major supplier of electricity due to lower efficiency and still high costs. Further research and commercialisation would address some concerns about solar power, experts say.

“People are interested in the alternative energy source, but the resource is still plagued with irregularities in its supply for the energy level falls off during the night and on rainy days,” Takemura said.

But Takemura says studies conducted under a government research programme has shown that solar power can produce high amounts of electricity of 17 million kilowatts at a time, which represents Japan’s peak requirements.

Meantime, the initial cost of converting an average home to a solar-powered system has fallen to some 25,000 dollars from the previous 50,000 dollars.

In anticipation of Japan’s rising energy demands, companies into solar as well as wind technology are seeking to play a substantial role in filling that need.

“It is only now that big business is waking up to solar energy,” said Yasuo Kishi, director of Sanyo Solar Industries. A specialist in solar energy, Kishi had developed an airplane that crossed North America on solar power. In 1996, he supervised the first solar Pacific crossing aboard a solar-powered boat.

Optimistic about the future market for solar-powered homes and appliances, manufacturers of electric home appliances are stepping up production of solar power generators.

Kyocera has been reinforcing its solar battery production lines and plans to double production by October this year. It plans to open 100 sales offices in Japan by the year 2000.

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. plans to invest 125 million dollars in a factory that will produce solar power generation systems. Starting next year, its plant will produce 6,700 solar generators per year.

Other companies are looking into commercialising Japan’s high wind energy. A project that started in Tachikawa, Yamagata,an area facing the Sea of Japan, is now selling electricity through a power plant installed with two Danish-made windmills. Total sales this year would reach some 167,000 dollars.

And in another positive signal from the market about the commercial prospects of renewable energy, several companies last month, including Sony and Toyota Motor Corp., asked the Japanese government to loosen restrictions and raise tax exemptions as an incentive for the promotion of solar and wind power.

Recently, the government promised to increase the share of environment-friendly sources in Japan’s total energy makeup, from the current 1.1 percent to 2 percent by the year 2000.

Kishi says the rapid popularity of Japan’s solar programme shows that consumers welcome the option of using cleaner, more climate-friendly power sources. The provision of such a choice is a challenge that the government and business sector should meet, he added. Said Kishi: “Now our job is to make solar power accessible to everyone.”