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J apan's Post‐ F ukushima Energy Policy Challenges
Author(s) -
Koyama Ken
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
asian economic policy review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.58
H-Index - 20
eISSN - 1748-3131
pISSN - 1832-8105
DOI - 10.1111/aepr.12029
Subject(s) - economic shortage , energy policy , energy strategy , face (sociological concept) , energy security , energy (signal processing) , national policy , accident (philosophy) , economic policy , economics , government (linguistics) , engineering , sociology , international trade , social science , renewable energy , linguistics , philosophy , statistics , mathematics , electrical engineering , epistemology
The G reat E ast J apan E arthquake and the successive accidents at the F ukushima D aiichi N uclear P ower S tation are stark reminders of the importance of energy, which is the basis of economic activity and national governance. Urgent responses have been conducted since M arch 11, 2011, including controlling the consequences of the nuclear accident, dealing with the short‐term power shortages, and a comprehensive review of J apan's long‐term national energy policy. Nationwide discussions and reviews of these issues are still continuing. Even today, more than 2 years after M arch 11, many problems remain unsolved and J apanese society has to face uncertainty and challenges about its energy future. In the current difficult situation, J apan needs to achieve “3 E s ( e nergy security, e nvironmental protection, and e conomic efficiency)” plus “ S ” ( s afety) and “ M ” ( m acro economy protection) simultaneously, taking account of the new realities following the F ukushima accident. This paper tries to identify the energy‐related challenges that Japan has to face and tries to recommend the concept of the “energy best mix policy” for J apan, by describing the present status of energy issues in Japan and the national debate on energy policy.