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Softbank's Son, Globis' Hori trade blows via Twitter

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If the number of Twitter followers is a fair measure of a person’s influence, Softbank President Masayoshi Son’s is considerable. Numbering over a million, they are drawn by his vigorous activism on behalf of renewable energy.

Mainstream Japan before March 11 had little patience with his kind of thinking. Now, solar, wind and geothermal energy look like the bandwagon to jump on, nuclear power having shown (and showing still, more than four months later) its deadly potential.

Son in May announced an 80 billion yen project to build 10 large-scale solar power plants, and in July enlisted the participation of 36 prefectural governors in a new council to promote alternative energy. Almost simultaneously, Prime Minister Naoto Kan made his dramatic declaration that “We should aim to be a society that does not depend on nuclear power.”

The tide seems to be turning, though not with everyone’s wholehearted approval. Among the doubters is Yoshito Hori, founder and president of Globis Management School. Interviewed by Sankei Shimbun (July 16), Hori spoke of the “annihilating blow” a too-hasty energy policy shift would deal an already sputtering Japanese economy. Son, he said, “is using his political connections to lead us in a direction that’s good for him but bad for Japan.”

The two men are old acquaintances -- Hori has used Son’s Softbank for case studies in his courses – and are set to hold a one-on-one public debate on Aug 5.

In the meantime, they tweet at each other via Twitter, Hori accusing Son of angling for government subsidies, Son dismissing Hori as a diehard defender of a mortally discredited industry.

“With more than a million Twitter followers, Son’s pronouncements carry considerable weight,” Hori says. “If he’s wrong, he can do a lot of damage.”

Lest he be misunderstood, Hori stresses that he favors increasing reliance on alternative energy – “on two conditions,” he tells Sankei Shimbun. One: No subsidies. Two: If power companies are to be obliged to purchase surplus power generated by homes and businesses via renewable energy, as would be the case under a proposed law backed by Kan and Son, the price should be in accord with market standards and not imposed as what, in effect, would be a subsidy in disguise.

In the first case, he argues, the money for subsidies would come directly from taxpayers. In the second, power companies would simply pass on inflated prices to consumers in the form of increased rates.

“Mr Son is using his closeness to Kan and to heads of local governments to obtain subsidies and manipulate prices in the interests of his own business,” Hori claims. “He’s exploiting his political connections.”

Sankei Shimbun gives Son no rebuttal. For that we must scan Twitter, or wait for the Aug 5 debate.

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One: No subsidies. Two: If power companies are to be obliged to purchase surplus power generated by homes and businesses via renewable energy, as would be the case under a proposed law backed by Kan and Son, the price should be in accord with market standards and not imposed as what, in effect, would be a subsidy in disguise.

Japan doesnt have enough cash to do the research necessary to build these proposed plants without using tax (subsidies) yen.

How does Hori think the nuke plants got build?

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Now, solar, wind and geothermal energy look like the bandwagon to jump on

I still rarely ever see any thing written and proposed on using Tidal power. Damn, it is an island country, the moon is not leaving, and it is proven technology.

It would not make the beaches any less ugly than they are now with all those huge cement Jacks everywhere desho!

“Mr Son is using his closeness to Kan and to heads of local governments to obtain subsidies and manipulate prices in the interests of his own business,” Hori claims. “He’s exploiting his political connections.”

Bull dinky. Son is a billionaire and does not need the cash. He is doing good things. Would love to see more extensive phone service, cheaper prices for the iPhone service, and see him put big money into Tidal Electricity.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Who exactly is Hori, and what gives him the credibility to spout off like that?

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See Japan Today's interview earlier this year with Mr Hori at http://www.japantoday.com/category/executive-impact/view/rainbow-of-hope-for-japan

Japan doesnt have enough cash to do the research necessary to build these proposed plants without using tax (subsidies) yen.

How does Hori think the nuke plants got build?

Subsidies for nuke plants were a bad idea and they are a bad idea for solar. Subsidies cost taxpayers money and they distort the direction of the technology. Japan will end up with inefficient solar plants not something that they need. If you can't build solar to be cost effective, you shouldn't build them at all.

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If you want a rapid transition, then you want short-term subsidies. Only a market purist would argue otherwise.

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I'm quite certain that solar power is not the current answer to renewable energy. Simplest example is trying to charge one cellphone with 4 of the latest solar panels..... It is not efficient enough yet. The world needs something like a working version of the MIT Leaf.

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Yes, M.Hori. I agree. Zero subsidies. I mean including for nuke energy. Start today. And you get what ? -Tepco close tomorrow morning. -All others getting a plan out of nuclear ready before September as they would fear to end like Tepco.

That said, I don't it's Mr. Son that should decide Japan's police on his own. People wake you up !

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For now, Japan needs something to boost its electricity production before winter hits. Subsidy or not I don't think is an issue - as we are talking about an essential service. It simply needs to be there.

And as for the cost of solar or whatever - it doesn't matter either - as Japan will use locally made. For the kind of money that is being pumped in by the government to deal with the Fukushima situation (think subsidy), if we could rewind the clock, I would rather that money had gone into solar power plants or something that would not have lead to this situation. Now we are at the start of a new stage, why not start it off on a better foot - by learning from past mistakes?..

Agree with Mark Bradley on the MIT artificial leaf - once it's ready.

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