(Japan) Green and growing

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2007/03/26/green_and_growing/

AN ISLAND nation with no domestic oil supply, Japan offers a glimpse into the world's energy future, when oil reserves decline to unsustainable levels and alternatives are the only alternative. Unlike the vast and swaggering United States, Japan has confronted the reality of limited oil, especially in its energy conservation efforts. According to the International Energy Agency, Japan's energy consumption as a percentage of gross domestic product is the lowest in the world.

Nearly 10 years after it hosted the Kyoto global warming summit, the country still claims a leadership role in reducing carbon emissions. The national expression of concern for the earth dovetails nicely with the traditional Japanese reverence for nature (Shintoism sees gods in every mountain, rock, and tree), but in fact Japan has no choice: The country imports almost all its oil and 60 percent of its food. It is self-sufficient only in rice.

However, Japan has managed to drive down energy use dramatically without sacrificing the comforts of an affluent society. The per capita consumption of energy in Japan is nearly half that in the United States, but the per capita incomes are roughly the same. So prosperity alone doesn't explain why the United States burns so much more oil.

Japan's economy is still the second largest in the world. Its office towers and shopping malls teem with innovation and commerce. Its continued prowess in innovation and design keeps the Japanese well-stocked in consumer gadgets: cellphones with GPS maps, high-tech toys, the peculiarly appealing new electric toilet.

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Nuclear power provides about 1/3 of Japan's electricity. They are heavily invested in a MOX fuel cycle.

I don't think the article posted could be any more expressive of American stereotypes about Japan. Hell, they even threw in "the peculiarly appealing new electric toilet."

Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, Ghidorah, Dogora, Atragon, all wreaking destruction on Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya ... can we really afford a nucular future?

What that the Japanese turned, instead, to Hemp*!

:evilgrin:

--p!
* And ethanol. Neat.

And heating is the biggie in energy consumption. They use mass transit, which is to their advantage. Of course, they have their electronic entertainment, which consumes energy.

I like the vignettes about compulsive recycling, but where's the mention of geothermal heating or generation?