Dire necessity fosters much advancement.
Japan needs energy, where will it come from? Prime Minister Naoto Kan has halted all new nuclear development from here on out due to the March 11 Earthquake and Tsunami and its aftermath. Naoto Kan plans to fill the gap of the lost power with solar throughout the country. A new mandate, soon to be announced at the G-8 Summit, will require every single new building in Japan be fitted with solar panels. The Prime Minister believes that this requirement may lead to new developments and reducing the prices of current solar technology. Naoto said, “[Japan needs to] start from scratch. [Japan will] lead the world in clean energy such as solar and biomass, as we take a step toward resurrection.”
Solar panels are expensive, and requiring anyone to buy them may seem like an unfair burden. There are countless of other such requirements to structures around the world. But, is this too much to ask?
On a related note, as of 12/31/2010, Germany’s total solar power generation surpassed that of the 6 reactors in Japan on the day they were struck. The Fukushima reactors were outputting 10 Megawatts of power when the earthquake struck, and Germany is producing 12.1 Megawatts at its peak time of day. In other words, it is possible for Japan to make up the loss. However, it would need 10 times the solar production of Germany to create as much average energy as the nuclear installation produced. Let us hope that Naoto Kan’s mandate does push the further innovation he wants, or they may never reach true supplementation.
Cabe
