Japan

Geothermal Energy Advantages And Disadvantages

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Geothermal energy’s main advantages are that it is generated cleanly and renewably. That is, electricity produced by geothermal plants produces no carbon emissions or air pollution like burning coal, gas, and oil do. Of course, producing clean electricity is better for human health and the environment because of the lack of air pollution. Millions of

Climate Humor At The UN COP20 Meet (VIDEOS)

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Never let it be said that the doomsaying, treehugging, pointy-headed nerds of the climate change adaptation movement lack a fundamental sense of humor. The dark amusements of the UN’s COP20 conference in Lima—as at prior venues—surface daily in the presentation of an award for [Climate] Fossil of the Day. During United Nations climate change talks

Drone Captures Fukushima Desolation Amid Cherry Blossoms

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Cherry blossoms in the foreground of Mount Fuji (image: ladyadventurer.co.uk) So far, at least, the famed blossoming cherry trees of Japan don’t discriminate geographically. This time of year, they grace even the surroundings of nuclear power generators shaken by earthquake, tsunami, and meltdowns three years ago. Otherwise, though, the Fukushima landscape remains desolate. Despite widespread

The IPCC's Blockbuster 5th Climate Assessment

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BREAKING: Late this evening (8 pm EST, or tomorrow, March 31, at 9 am in Tokyo), something large and unpleasant will hit the fan about climate change. At a press conference in Yokohama, the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will release its Fifth Assessment Report on impacts of human activities on current and

All 3 Fukushima ALPS Nuclide Scrubbers Shut Down Tuesday

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Construction of the Advanced Liquid Processing System at TEPCO’s ruined Fukushima nuclear power complex (photo: TEPCO, via mainichi.jp). Still dealing with the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, subsequent tsunami, and three meltdowns at its Fukushima I nuclear power complex, Tokyo Electric Power Company had more bad news yesterday about its Fukushima ALPS cleanup efforts.

UN Nails Forest Risks, Strategy In Warsaw With REDD+

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At the late November meeting of UN climate delegates in Warsaw, negotiators from Canada–once a strong supporter of fast-start financing to limit greenhouse gas emissions from developing countries–and Australia, now led by a rashly conservative government, sat on their hands. Reeling from the costs of mitigation at Fukushima and a stopgap return to fossil fuels,

Fukushima Daiichi "A Warning To The World"

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TEPCO workers lower the 91-ton shielded transfer cask in preparation for relocating unused nuclear fuel. (Photo from TEPCO.) Today, officials at Tokyo Electric Power Company could breathe a sigh of relief. Using remote-controlled cranes, workers at Fukushima Daiichi cleared some of the dangerously radioactive uranium fuel rod racks from the upper-story cooling pond of damaged

Preliminary Test Now Required For Fukushima Nuclear Cleanup

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Readying Fukushima 1 Unit 4 for decommission operation, but… (Kyodo News/flickr.com/photos/simplyinfo/) Not so fast with the Fukushima decommissioning, TEPCO. A Japanese government-affiliated agency (the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization) has advised the Tokyo Electric Power Company that its proposed method of clearing Reactor Unit 4’s exposed cooling pool needs a test run before anyone commits

U.S. To Aid TEPCO In Moving Hot Fukushima Fuel

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Preparing to decommission the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, TEPCO recently dismantled the damaged roof parapet of Unit 4 and removed debris there. (Screenshot source: Enformable.com/Lucas W. Hixson.) As early as next Friday (November 8), the scariest decommissioning work at the ruined nuclear power complex may begin. Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), the largest electrical utility in

An Exotic New Particle Is Found…With Four Quarks?

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The particle physics community is all stirred up by the potential discovery of an exotic new particle whose properties can best be explained if it were to violate one of the basic conventions of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD, a key component of the “Standard Model”), that is, the maximum number of quarks that nuclear particle can

Top 50 Solar Energy Stories Of 2013 (So Far): Part 2 (#2–21)

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We’re trying to get more solar energy stories going here on Planetsave. To catch readers up, I’m doing a short series on the top 50 solar energy stories of 2013 so far. Learning from the Top 33 EV Stories article I recently published, I’m splitting this one into 5 posts. Otherwise, the page would take forever to load.

Top 50 Solar Energy Stories Of 2013 (So Far): Part 1 (#1–10)

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We’re trying to get more solar energy stories going here on Planetsave. To catch readers up, I’m doing a short series on the top 50 solar energy stories of 2013 so far. Learning from the Top 33 EV Stories article I recently published, I’m splitting this one into 5 posts. Otherwise, the page would take

Stable Fault Zones May Contribute to Massive Earthquakes

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Plate tectonics utterly fascinate me, and this new news out of Caltech University just proves that this particular field of science is one of the most interesting out there. Researchers at the California Institute of Technology, aka Caltech, along with the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) have found that previous assumptions about

Solar Energy Take-Up Across the World

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  The global solar power industry has experienced remarkable growth since the 2009 recession. The growth rate each year between 2007 to 2011 was around 70%. At the end of 2011, the total GW of solar panels installed worldwide was 62, divided between residential roofs, commercial buildings, and utility plants. With increasing pressure for the

$1.5 Billion for New Wind Power in Japan

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  Several Japanese companies, such as JFE Steel, Hitachi, Toshiba, Sumitomo Electric Industries, and Toa Corporation, are investing in offshore wind energy to the tune of $1.5 billion dollars. They are funding the development of a 300-MW offshore wind farm, which may be located in the Kyushu region of southwestern Japan. The Japanese government wants to

Japan to Increase Green Energy by 13 Percent

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  The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said last week that it hopes to increase its country’s renewable energy capacity by approximately 13 percent through the year ending March 2013. It intends to do so by introducing a price incentive program for generators this July. The country plans to add 2,500 megawatts of

Top 6 Countries Using Solar Energy

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  Using solar energy has numerous advantages, and that’s why many countries have decided to use more renewable energy rather than rely on other forms of energy that are running out. Not only is solar energy much cheaper but it’s not as harmful to the environment since it doesn’t produce pollution like other forms of

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

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We’ve written about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the past on a few occasions. However, it seems it’s a hot topic right now (perhaps getting some national TV news coverage tonight?), so I thought I’d revisit it and drop in some updated information on the huge garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean. First of

Three Sea Shepherd Activists Injured in Clash with Whalers

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  The news: Reportedly, 3 sea shepherd activists(or whale warriors) have been injured in a clash with Japanese whalers. “The Japanese whalers have escalated their aggression by throwing iron grappling hooks at Sea Shepherd boats,” the Sea Shepherd team writes. “Two Steve Irwin crew were struck in the shoulder with iron grappling hooks and one crewmember was

How Extreme Weather Will Impact World's Major Cities

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  In the 2004 science fiction movie The Day After Tomorrow, climate change causes catastrophic events through extreme weather. Powerful tornadoes rip through Los Angeles, a giant snowstorm hits New Delhi, and a massive tidal wave hits Manhattan, causing extreme flooding. All of this makes for good popcorn munching, brought to us by Hollywood, but it

Occupy Tokyo Actions Don't Get Media Coverage — Surprised?

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Just as in the Occupy Wall Street didn’t get any mass media coverage when it started, Occupy Tokyo is apparently getting ignored by the media there and getting no coverage. “Several large demonstrations have taken place all over Japan in recent months, especially in Tokyo. The general mood is the same as elsewhere: ordinary people

3 Whale Warriors to be Released from Japanese Whaling Ship

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  If you haven’t heard, three anto-whaling activists, or whale warriors, were ‘taken captive’ by Japanese whalers after boarding the Shonan Maru 2 several days ago are supposedly to be released. The Australian activists from Forest Rescue — Geoffrey Owen Tuxworth, Simon Peterffy, and Glen Pendlebury — were facing trial and possible imprisonment in Japan for

Official Meme of 2011: Meltdown (Cartoon)

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  Via DailyKos, here’s the “official meme of 2011“: Seems spot on to me. We certainly covered the Japan nuclear meltdowns, Arctic ice cap meltdown, and multiple (Republican-driven) Congressional meltdowns repeatedly here on Planetsave. Though, decided that the Charlie Sheen and other meltdowns were outside our jurisdiction, somewhat thankfully. What will 2012 bring?

Tracking Marine Debris from the Japanese Tsunami Aftermath

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The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are tracking the path of debris pulled out to sea in the wake of the Japanese tsunami that took place in March of 2011, predicting that locations in Hawaii and the West Coast could see debris wash up over the next three years. “We’re preparing for the best

Tsunami Relief Should Go to People, Not Whaling (Take Action!)

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  If you haven’t run across this news yet, it’s pretty disheartening… a lot of disaster relief funds given to Japan to help it recover from the terrible tsunami and nuclear disasters that slammed it in March are reportedly being used to support the country’s whaling operations, something which is, by all practical standards, illegal.

PACT Announces Underwear Line for Japan

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I’ve written on PACT a couple times. It’s an organic underwear company for good. It’s helping to fight coal power on U.S. college campuses and it’s giving kudos to our everyday green heroes. Now, it’s also helping out some of the victims of the tremendous Japanese disasters this year with its PACT for Japan line, just released

United States Weak-Ass Concern Over Renewed Japanese Whaling

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In a statement released on Thursday the United States has expressed their deep “regrets that Japan has decided to continue its controversial whaling in the Southern Ocean.”

The statement also went on to state that “the United States also expresses its deep concern about the possibility of violence in connection with such whaling.”

This sort of nonaction and pussy-footing around an issue such as this is one of the reasons why individual nutjobs like Paul Watson and his Sea Shepherd Conservation Society are out on the seas trying to protect animals who have as much right to live as anything else, especially given how close to endangered many species of whale are getting.

CERN: 'Speed of Light Exceeded' (Maybe) – Physics World Excited, but Skeptical

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The news from CERN physicists that the speed of light “may have been exceeded” sent a lightning bolt of excitement and disbelief (not quite surpassing the speed of light) through the world’s physics community. Fully accepting that their results would be met with great skepticism, the same physicists are inviting other particle physicists and labs to verify — or disprove — their results, which, if validated, will overturn one of the principle tenets of modern physics: that nothing travels faster than the speed of ligh

U.S. Declares Iceland in Violation of Global Whaling Ban, May Impose Sanctions

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On July 20, 2011, U.S. Dept. of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke formally declared the nation of Iceland to be in defiance of the International Whaling Commission’s global ban on commercial whaling. The declaration was met with over-whelming approval by numerous NGOs and conservation groups the world over. As a result of the commerce secretary’s declaration, President Obama now has 60 days to decide whether to impose economic penalties and/or trade sanctions against Iceland. Such sanctions are authorized under legislation known as the ‘Pelly Amendment’.

Typhoon Ma-on Heading For Fukushima Nuclear Plant

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As if the people of japan haven’t suffered enough devastation, reports say Typhoon Ma-on is heading toward Fukushima. While workers at Tokyo Electric Power Co( TEPCO) is rushing to install a cover over a building at its crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant to shield it from wind and rain as Typhoon Ma-on approaches Japan.

Whale Wars' Paul Watson Video Interview — "Arrest Me or Shut Up" (& Calls Greenpeace Activists Cowards)

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From his earlier days at Greenpeace to his current efforts with the show “Whale Wars” in Libyan waters, Paul Watson has focused on direct action that not only attracts eyes but gets results. In this short interview with NYTimes’ Andy Revkin, Watson speaks about his strategy compared to current-day Greenpeace’s — intervening in illegal whaling, not protesting it (and doesn’t refrain from calling Greenpeace activists cowards!).

Fish with Arms & Legs?! {Photos & Video}

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Turns out this isn’t a fish, but a giant salamander. It lives in Japan and parents there warn their children that there’s a fish with hands and feet that pulls children under the water and to stay away. The mouth on that thing in the Animal Planet video below looks big enough to fit around a child’s head. Check it out:

Could the Japanese Earthquake Affect World Weather?

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Much has been made in the news of the shift in the Earth’s axis by half a foot as a result of the Japanese earthquake. The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University’s Earth Institute has answered that question in a press release. The simply answer, is no.

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