Japan’s greenhouse gas emissions hit a record high making Japan the world’s fifth-largest CO2 producer and putting them at risk of an embarrassing failure to meet its Kyoto target over the next four years. The increase of 2.3 percent last year was largely due to the closure of Japan’s biggest nuclear power plant after an earthquake.

Emissions rose to 1.371 billion metric tons of CO2 equivalent in the Japanese fiscal year through March. The year before Japan finally saw a decline of 1.3 percent decline. Japan needs to cut emissions by an estimated 13.5 percent to hit its 2008-2012 target under Kyoto of down 6 percent from 1990 levels.

The task of cutting emissions may be its worst since the onset of a global recession, a diversion of governments’ focus away from climate change the investment needed.

Japan is not going to make their goal.

Source: Yahoo!

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Soon-to-be Republican U.S. presidential candidate, John McCain wants to add to the 104 nuclear reactors currently operating in the States. He wants to add 45 nuclear power plants by 2030.

Additionally, he wants to pledge $2 billion each year in federal funds “to make clean coal a reality.”

The 104 nuclear reactors produce about 20% of the country’s electricity needs. And America has enough coal to last us forever maybe? Though, forever is a really long time.

America has not seen a new nuclear power plant go online in over 30 years but if McCain had his way, we’d have 45 in 20 years and another 55 after that, providing for nearly half of our energy needs.

In addition to the energy these two projects will deliver…can you say J-O-B-S? No relation to that Apple Inc. guy.

Hear hear! Nuclear power is a viable alternative in my book IF it is managed correctly. Clean coal? Absolutely. What’s the alternative?

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The world’s speed and nuclear power do not belong in the same sentence, but sure enough China is doing its darnedest to build as many nuclear power plants as it can, using OLD technology. Their target is 4 new generators each year, through 2015.

However, the nuclear plants are going to be just a partial answer for its mounting pollution, energy security problems and the fast growing electricity use, because they will not be able to provide more than 5 percent of its power. Is coal still an option for them? Did they never hear of wind or solar power?

China’s nuclear power companies want to export that ability and technology overseas and the biggest problem would be a huge push to expand the country’s reliance on nuclear power domestically.

Nuclear power is an alternative if it is managed correctly, and when it does go wrong, it goes seriously wrong. But, who manages it correctly?