Japan and energy: What's the alternative? <a href="http://www.cheap-snapback-hats.com/category-30-b0-NFL-Hats.html">nfl hats</a>
(CNN) -- As Japan's earthquake and tsunami ripped through the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the wind turbines at nearby Takine Ojiroi Wind Farm did what they were designed to do: They swayed, they stopped, they electronically checked themselves and automatically restarted.<a href="http://www.cheap-snapback-hats.com/goods-1569-Washington-Redskins-Fitted-Black-Hat-NFL042.html">Washington Redskins Hats</a>

"Except for one turbine that was very close to the nuclear power plant, all the turbines were up and running after the quake," said Sean Sutton of Vestas, the world's largest manufacturer of electricity generating wind turbines.

"And the damaged turbine we were able to monitor remotely," he said. Even now, the turbines are generating power for the grid despite being isolated within the nuclear exclusion zone.<a href="http://www.cheap-snapback-hats.com/goods-1568-Tennessee-Titans-Fitted-Hat-NFL-048.html">Tennessee Titans Hats</a>

As a source of power, wind energy is about as clean, safe and earthquake-proof as it gets -- the problem is it generates a fraction of Japan's energy needs.

Compared with the massive 4,696MW output of the six reactors at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the 23 turbines at Takine Ojiroi can produce just 46MW -- enough for 30,000 households.<a href="http://www.cheap-snapback-hats.com/goods-1567-St-Louis-Rams-Fitted-Grey-Hat-NFL037.html">St.Louis Rams Hats</a>

With just 1% of the capacity of the nuclear-powered leviathan just a few kilometers away, the wind farm is a microcosm of the contribution of wind power to Japan's energy mix.

Currently, Japan gets 27% of its power from coal, 26% from gas, 24% from nuclear, 13% from oil, and 8% from hydro. The remaining 2% is occupied by renewables such as geothermal power stations, solar and wind.<a href="http://www.cheap-snapback-hats.com/goods-1566-Seattle-Seahawks-Fitted-Blue-Hat-NFL015.html">Seattle Seahawks Hats</a>

While renewable energy companies are loathe to admit it, as Japan still counts the human cost of the quake, the nuclear crisis at Fukushima may be the best thing that ever happened to the sector.<a href="http://www.cheap-snapback-hats.com/goods-1565-San-Francisco-49ers-Fitted-Red-Hat-NFL087.html">San Francisco 49ers Hats</a>

Last week, the share prices of renewable energy companies soared as much as 10%. Nuclear companies, meanwhile, tanked as China -- which has the world's largest commitment to nuclear power with 13 plants in operation and more than 27 in the pipeline -- announced it would suspend approval for new nuclear power projects.

Germany, too, has suspended its nuclear program and ordered seven older plants closed during the moratorium. At the same time, Berlin has boosted the size of the government's renewable energy fund from €300 million ($425 million) to €1 billion.<a href="http://www.cheap-snapback-hats.com/goods-1562-San-Diego-Chargers-Fitted-NavyOrange-Hat-NFL065.html">San DiegoChargers Hats</a>

Rate this blog

   Report Abuse