Nagano Prefecture Generates Most Electricity from Small Hydro in Japan

The Kurasaka Environmental Research Laboratory at Chiba University and the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies, a Japanese non-profit organization, issued on December 28, 2011, a report on the amount of renewable energy generated at each village, town, and city in Japan. The report revealed that Nagano Prefecture generates the most electricity from small hydropower (microhydropower) of all prefectures in Japan.

The report provides estimates of the annual amount of electricity generated in Japan from renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, microhydro and biomass. Microhydropower generation was the largest, at 13,986 terajoules, in Nagano Prefecture, followed by Toyama Prefecture and Niigata Prefecture. In Nagano Prefecture, microhydropower-generated electricity made up about 84 percent of renewable energy supply.

Microhydropower generation is defined as power generation that utilizes the flow of water in rivers, irrigation waterways, and water supply and sewage systems and has a maximum output of 10,000 kilowatts. Compared with solar or wind power generation, its advantages include less susceptibility to weather conditions, enabling a stable supply of electricity; mitigation of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions as an alternative source of energy to fossil fuels; and contribution to local energy production and consumption.

Fifty Two Municipalities in Japan are Energy Self-Sufficient with Renewables (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/031557.html
Current Status of Renewable Energy in Japan
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/031513.html
Small Hydropower Brings Possibility of Locally Generated Electricity for Local Consumption
http://www.japanfs.org/en/mailmagazine/newsletter/pages/030154.html

登録日時：2012/04/05 06:00:15 AM