Eco Inagi no kai and renewable energy

July 17, 2012

Renewable energy activism surges forward in Tokyo-area city

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120717p2a00m0na009000c.html

A citizens' movement to help Japan rid itself of nuclear power through local adoption of solar power is building steam in the city of Inagi, Tokyo.

"To help get rid of nuclear power completely, we must make Inagi a leader in renewable energy generation," says Seigo Igaki, the 64-year-old leader of Eco Inagi no kai (Eco-Inagi committee).

The citizens' group is pressing the municipal government to install solar panels on public buildings including the city's 17 elementary and junior high schools, and to help people living in apartment complexes and houses install their own panels.

The group has already seen some success. Formed in October last year to pursue environmental initiatives such as protecting local woodland, the group managed to collect some 3,100 signatures in favor of installing solar panels on Inagi's primary schools. In March this year, the city council adopted the petition's primary points.

The group's next move has been to put on a "zero nuclear power" exhibition in the central Inagi cultural center lobby, set to run until July 18.

To reach the total electricity conserved under last year's summer power saving target of 15 percent per household "would take just 3,300 of this city's 36,000 households installing solar power systems," Igaki points out. "It's very important for Inagi to slowly replace traditional energy with renewable sources."

Inagi does not yet have a solar panel installation subsidy as some of its municipal neighbors do, and the Eco Inagi group has started a signature campaign to change that. The group isn't stopping at solar, however. It's also pressing the city to invite renewable energy generation companies to set up shop on unused land, and set up miniature hydroelectric generators on local rivers and at water stations.

The group's vigor and urgency is no accident.

"After the Fukushima nuclear disaster, we truly felt how dangerous nuclear power is," says 77-year-old Eco Inagi Secretary-General Goro Ichimura. "An accident can lead to the absolute loss of people's hometowns."