Wednesday, December 24, 2014

MIT Technology Review Favors Renewable Energy

Posted: 12/24/2014

Trigger

Just read “Can Japan Recapture Its Solar Power?” written by a contributing editor of MIT Technology Review. Not only is the Scientific American, but also the IEEE Spectrum and here the MIT Technology Review left leaning and biased towards environmentalism.

A salient excerpt from the above article: “Overnight, Japan has become the world’s hottest solar market: in less than two years after Fukushima melted down, the country more than doubled its solar generating capacity. ”

The Gist Of The Article

It’s time for renewable energy (especially solar power) in Japan post Fukushima nuclear power plant accident according to the author. Mandated and guaranteed for 20 years high feed-in tariffs of 35 cents per kw are just right to bring this about. The author casts no doubt about this measure. On the contrary, he suggests that the nuclear power industry has for decades received unfair benefits.

The author argues for more competition and deregulation in the energy markets of Japan, which I support.

Renewable Energy And Natural Disasters

Has it ever occured to this author that renewable energy is as prone if not more so than nuclear power plants to enormous natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, or volcanoes.

Does the author ever mention that solar power is not so environmentally friendly at all beginning with the production of photovoltaic cells?

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