Japanese Environment Minister states further geothermal support needed
Tsuchiyu Onsen in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan (source: flickr/ shin--k, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
24 Jul 2012
Japan's Minister for the Environment states the need for an expansion of the government's budget in support of geothermal development and research in the country.
In a statement on a visit to a geothermal plant in the Fukushima Prefecture, Japan’s Environment Minister Goshi Hosono said that to promote the development of geothermal power in Japan, the state’s budget would have to be expanded.
He states the need for the establishment of a research system, that will help the country to overcome its current energy crisis.
There are though no details available on what else the government aims to do to support geothermal development. So far the country has introduced a favourable feed-in-tariff for geothermal power, has allowed for development on or into national parks, but otherwise no further steps have been taken to support geothermal energy development.
Source: Japan Times
