Electronics expertise may drive Japan from nuclear energy

RAS AL KHAIMAH // Japan may soon use its formidable expertise in microelectronics and semiconductors to push renewable energy to the forefront of the country's energy agenda as it moves away from nuclear power.

The Pacific Rim country has been criticised for lagging Europe and even China in the large-scale installation of electrical generating capacity powered by renewable energy. But after the huge earthquake and tsunami last month that triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years, it is re-evaluating its energy policy.

"Japan may soon try to reduce its nuclear power," said Dr Takahashi Mihara, the director general of the country's Micro-electromechanical systems (mems) Industry Forum. "But we are also concerned about the environment. We do not want to use fossil fuel for power; not even gas."

Dr Mihara was visiting Ras al Khaimah as part of a four-member Japanese delegation attending the 17th World Micromachine Summit that ends tomorrow and which this year focuses on renewable energy applications.

He said Japan would need to invest heavily in renewable power over the next five to 10 years if it hoped, as part of its reconstruction programme, to reduce the country's reliance on nuclear and thermal electricity generation.

"It will take five to 10 years to rebuild systems to normal," Dr Mihara told the conference.

In his opening remarks at the meeting, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr, the Ruler of Ras al Khaimah, said the emirate was also committed to developing renewable energy to supplement its power and water supplies, in part because of safety concerns about nuclear energy.

"Here in Ras al Khaimah we want to know how to make efficient use of the power of the sun for cooling and [seawater] desalination," he said. "We have to find ways forward for sustainable development."

Ras al Khaimah imports most of the oil and gas it consumes and is increasingly dependent on imported fuels for power generation. That is because it can no longer count on receiving electricity supplies from Abu Dhabi.

Japan imports all its oil and gas, using those fuels as well as coal in power generation. Nuclear power has recently accounted for about 30 per cent of the country's electricity supply, Dr Mihara said. But the country faced an immediate 10 per cent cut in nuclear capacity as a result of the expected permanent closure of its crippled Fukushima power plants.

Among its research initiatives, Japan's mems forum is heading a national programme to develop hypersensitive robotic environmental sensors for integration into smart grids that could help the country to increase the efficiency of its electricity network and handle unpredictable power output from wind farms and solar power generators.

Earthquake and tsunami damage have left large parts of Japan, including Tokyo, short of electricity - a situation likely to worsen during the summer when air conditioning use is at its peak. The government is urging residents and industries to curb power consumption.

Professor Isao Shimoyama, the director of the Information and Robot Technology Research Initiative of the University of Tokyo, said Japan was especially interested in developing large-scale geothermal power systems.

Despite its location on the Pacific "ring of fire", renowned for its volcanoes, earthquakes and hot springs, the country has only three small geothermal power projects, Prof Shimoyama said.

In a poll conducted after the earthquake, 50 per cent of Japanese favoured the continued use of nuclear power, 40 per cent wanted it phased out, and 10 per cent offered no opinion, Dr Mihara said. That was a swing away from the majority that favoured atomic energy before the disaster.

"If you cut down the nuclear power right now, you can't maintain the system, but maybe we are looking at the long-term strategy," he said.

tcarlisle@thenational.ae