Ada Genavia
Mar 19, 2012

Japan develops green technology and methods post-power crisis and disaster

Since Japan's Tohoku earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, the country has been in an energy crisis. All but two of Japan's 54 nuclear reactors, which supplied 30 percent of the country's power, have been shut down. With no fossil fuel reserves of its own, Japan seeks to secure its own energy future with the use of green technology. Japanese industrial giants have announced plans for solar and wind power projects. All that new green power will require a massive investment in smart grid technology to manage it. ABB, IBM, General Electric, Itron, Elster and Echelon are among the international grid giants that will grow Japan's smart grid market. Other Japanese industrial companies are fast-forwarding projects that ask solar panels, plug-in electric cars, hot water heaters and other household devices -- as well as the public -- to balance power use across regions. Japan has launched four Smart City Projects around the country, enlisting giants like Toshiba, Hitachi and Panasonic to participate in the testing of energy management technologies.