Japan

Fukuoka Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in southwestern Japan will lease roof space in its school buildings and other public buildings to solar panels to take advantage of the new Feed-in Tariff for renewable energy.

Kyocera Corp. will provide 30MW solar panels to Eurus Energy Holdings to be used for a solar power plant in Hokkaido.

Nuclear Regulation Authority, Japan's new nuclear watchdog, plans to create fresh criteria for restarting nuclear reactors, according to its chief, Shunichi Tanaka.

Komatsu will spend ¥58 billion to scrap aging facilities and become more energy-efficient.

Sharp Corp. plans to scale down its domestic and overseas solar cell and power generation operations, except for cell production at its plant in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture.

Sharp Corp. plans to substantially reduce its domestic and overseas solar power operations to help revamp its

J-Power began work on a 20 megawatt wind power station in Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture, western Japan.

Japan's 10 regional utilities emitted 409 million tons of carbon dioxide in fiscal 2011.

Japan has backtracked on earlier announcements it will totally phase out nuclear energy by 2040.

A consortium of five Japanese companies including Toyota Motor Corporation last week began testing a process that will yield hydrogen fuel derived from sewage sludge.

Japan will shut down its nuclear energy sector by 2040, ending a heavy reliance on a power source that provided a third of its energy until 2011.

Newly-founded Japan Renewable Energy Foundation has put forward a proposal for a new energy policy 2030 focusing on a wide deployment of renewable energy.

Japan's subsidies for renewable power suppliers have sparked more than $2 billion of investment since they were launched two months ago.

Japan will need renewable energy investments amounting to US$637 billion to completely sever itself from nuclear power.

Japan's subsidies for renewable power providers could lead to huge investments amounting to some US$640 billion by 2030.

Tepco has set up teams to reform its nuclear division, a move viewed by some as indicative for the restart of idled reactors.