Sunday May 27, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

Japan's emissions rising after nuclear crisis

National Jan. 30, 2012 - 07:05AM JST ( 17 )

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17 Comments

6

some14someJan. 30, 2012 - 07:23AM JST

never mind, world will cooperate and bear with Japan. So, pls do not look for an excuse to restart nuclear plants !
5

JeffLeeJan. 30, 2012 - 07:52AM JST

Japan's greenhouse gas emissions had been steadily rising throughout the 2000s anyway. Business interests like the Nikkei are looking for excuses to reboot the nuke plants, which are built and maintained by powerful corporate entities.

For a real solution, thickly insulate the country's millions of buildings, install thermal glass and introduce proper heating systems (in the floor, not the goddamn ceiling). Oh, and get rid of the electric sliding doors at nearly every retail shop in the country.
7

zichiJan. 30, 2012 - 08:11AM JST

The government have clearly stated that there is no shortage of power even without nuclear energy. There's no mean for a ny manufacturer to be running generators. 10% of total power is generated by industry. This could be increased to 15%.

A 10% consumption cut could be achieved with more efficient use of power, without any reduction in production or standard of living.

The Kyoto agreement ends this year. America which uses coal to generate 50% of its total power, refused to even sign the agreement. India and China have stated this year they will not sign any new agreement. The per capita of CO2, places Japan at a such lower level than even some countries which are smaller.

There will be those, especially Big Nuke and the pro nuke boys who will pressure for the restart of the reactors.

I read a report, "Electricity Review Japan 2011" published by The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan. I thought it was a very worthwhile read, full of useful facts and figures. It does not mention anything about the nuclear disaster nor the shut down of reactors, as if its not happening? The report is very pro nuclear energy as the answer to many problems.

http://www.fepc.or.jp/english/library/electricity_eview_japan/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2011/01/28/ERJ2011_full.pdf

One useful point I learnt was, the energy demand for water heating constitutes about 30% of the total energy demand in the household sector. The use of heat pumps that use CO2 as refrigerant. A quoted example is the EcoCute which heats water by transferring the thermal energy in air, which is freely available, to wat by means of refrigerant. With a single unit of electric energy for heat pump operation and two units or more of thermal energy from air, produces three units or more of thermal energy. This creates hot water for the kitchen, bathroom, and floor heating. But it could also supply hot water for a central heating systems like those found in the west. If these units also used solar heating for water, the efficiency would be further increased.

CO2 emissions are cut by 50% when compared with conventional combustion type water heaters. When heat pumps systems fully penetrate the consumer sectors the resulting Co2 reductions will amount to about 12% of the present annual CO2 total of 1.2 billion tons.

The heat pumps could also be designed to incorporate air conditioning. It would create less household fires from using kerosene or gas heaters.
1

UtrackJan. 30, 2012 - 08:54AM JST

Japanese manufacturer’s greenhouse gas emissions are rising after the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, hurting the country’s carbon reduction goals, a report said Sunday.

nobody cares about a little extra greenhouse gas compared to what else is rising and coming from Fukushima Daiichi the nuclear radiation levels are rising and takes precedence in the concern measuring. Fix Daiichi first then and only then will somebody care about greenhouse gas.
4

kurisupisuJan. 30, 2012 - 09:16AM JST

The article fails to take into account the radioactive emissions from Fukushima-they are on the rise too......
1

MaboDofuIsSpicyJan. 30, 2012 - 09:50AM JST

Who cares. Tell the Chinese to lower their emissions.
5

senseimanJan. 30, 2012 - 10:09AM JST

I have to agree with the above comments about putting some insulation in the walls and introducing central heating rather than these idiotic air conditioners in the ceiling. I use about 4 times more electricity in the winter months than in spring/ fall and double what I use in the summer thanks to that.
4

zichiJan. 30, 2012 - 11:33AM JST

When it comes to insulation, houses are very poor. There's none in the roof spaces. Modern apartment blocks are better than houses. The reconstruction in Tohoku should center on building green homes. The government needs to give grants for green homes.

I love the work of the famous Osaka architect Tadao Ando because he uses natural light in his designs cutting down on the need for electrical lights. The Hyogo Prefecture Art Museum in Kobe is a great example of his work.

The Fukushima plant continues to release radiation at 70 million becquerels per hour, 24/7.
0

Peace_ManJan. 30, 2012 - 01:05PM JST

Should also mention that there has been a drastic reduction in high level nuclear waste from reactors (not including Fukushima)
0

FadamorJan. 30, 2012 - 01:08PM JST

I said this was going to happen. With the shutdown of the nuclear plants, the "conventional" plants are going to have to increase output to make up the difference. Increased output equals increased emissions. Different sources of power present their own societal issues. You go with the sources (and their issues) that you can live with.
0

Pruitt Igoe 72Jan. 30, 2012 - 01:09PM JST

I still believe in the Koto Protocol. I don't care what the media say.
0

warnerbroJan. 30, 2012 - 02:38PM JST

When I read the title, I assumed this piece was concerning the recent rise in radioactivity released by the Fukushima plants. TEPCO claims this is just a bit of dust (that happened to spread across nearly half of Honshu.)
0

wanderlustJan. 30, 2012 - 06:42PM JST

@zichi - to be fair, that report was published in January 2011, before the earthquake and tsunami. Much of the data in the tables is referenced as either March 2010 or December 2010.
1

Rick KisaJan. 30, 2012 - 08:36PM JST

the article is untimely! japan is in a crisis and trying to deal with the fukushima nightmare. anything else, including greenhouse gases is secondary. i know some pot-bellied pro-nuclear plant switch-happy technocrat would be longing for a chance to get back to business, regardless of the crisis, but sorry this is not the time! this article should have been written 4 years from now..about 2016, when people have put the nculear fallout behind and looking forward...
1

zichiJan. 30, 2012 - 08:42PM JST

wanderlust

I thought that might be the case, so the next report Jan 2012 should contain info on the nuclear disaster and reactor shut downs?
0

UtrackJan. 30, 2012 - 09:08PM JST

Cesium leakage keeps increasing, Tepco estimated that the cesium emission of January is 70 million Bq/h, but it increased to be 72 million Bq/h even since 1/23, when they made the estimation. The link page is in japanese, but you can read the story on Fukushima-diary . com in english

http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/feature/nucerror/condition/list/CK2012012902000091.html?ref=rank
1

wanderlustJan. 31, 2012 - 12:52AM JST

@zichi - don't hold your breath! You'll have to look for the small print in the publication...