information about Fukushima published in English in Japanese media info publiée en anglais dans la presse japonaise
12 Juin 2015
June 12, 2015
Jun. 12, 2015 - Updated 06:35 UTC+2
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150612_21.html
Japanese Environment Minister Yoshio Mochizuki says he will submit a letter of objection over the planned construction of a coal-fired thermal power plant in western Japan. He cites global warming concerns as a reason.
An operator that has secured funding from J-Power and Osaka Gas is planning to build the 1.2 million kilowatt plant in Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. The ministry has conducted an environmental impact study of the project.
Mochizuki told reporters on Friday that he will say in the letter to the economy and industry ministry that the plan cannot be approved at present. The industry ministry is in charge of authorizing the plant's construction.
The environment minister expressed concern that the operation of the thermal power plant could undermine Japan's efforts to achieve its greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal.
Earlier this month, the government decided to aim to cut emissions by 26 percent by 2030 from 2013 levels.
Coal-fueled power generation involves sizeable carbon dioxide emissions.
But a series of projects to build such plants have been unveiled since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in 2011.
The environment ministry estimates that if all the planned plants are brought into operation, power output by coal-fired plants may grow by more than 30 percent from fiscal 2013, which ended in March 2014.
The ministry is calling on the power industry to introduce a framework to reduce utilities' emissions.
Industrial watchers say the coal-fired plant construction projects may face a review.
/https%3A%2F%2Fassets.over-blog.com%2Ft%2Fcedistic%2Fcamera.png)