Japan reluctant to use wind power

TOKYO, JAPAN - Although Japan is definitely feeling the nudge to implement renewable energy, wind-generated energy has been slow to take off.

Many factors are contributing to wind power's unwelcome reception in the country, including the fact that power utility companies are hesitant to buy power from private-sector power companies.

Solar power has enjoyed a warm welcome, but solar panels can be installed anywhere. In Japan, they can be found everywhere: on houses, in peach orchards, even serving as roof paneling for civic centers and public spaces. When arrayed in a farm, they are unobtrusive, low to the ground and quiet. Since they can go anywhere, they are widely accepted and tolerated aesthetically. Not so with wind turbines.

Most of Japan's population is huddled on the coast and in valleys — relatively flat terrain that is easy to build on. The rest of the land is home to uninhabited, nearly pristine, mountainous landscape. While Japan is blessed with strong, steady winds in the coastal and mountainous regions, residents find that wind turbines are not pleasing to the eye. There is little optimal land to work with after removing mountain ranges and coastlines from potential construction sites.

One small windfarm, scheduled for construction in Shinkamigoto on Nakadori Island, in the Nagasaki prefecture, has been protested so much that it is being placed on indefinite hold until negotiations can be resumed. Fudo Keikaku, meaning "Wind and Earth Planning," is a non-profit organization dedicated to developing independent wind projects devoted to powering small communities. The small, 1,500-kilowatt windfarm was originally scheduled for completion early next year.