Japan was going great guns on adding wind power generating facilities…until last year. The number of new facilities added in ‘07 was half of what was added in ‘06. New wind turbines that started operation in Japan last year had a capacity of 185Kw. It was double that in ‘06.

There are reasons for the drop off:

1. Utilities in northern Japan which is best suited for wind turbines have restricted the construction of new sites

2. New earthquake-resistance standards are tougher even for planned facilities

3. The strong euro and high prices for steel materials make wind turbines much more expensive

4. activists fighting for protection of scenery in the area are preventing progress in use of wind turbines

5. activists fighting on behalf of animals in the areas are preventing progress as well

Japan has a goal of 3 million KW generated by 2010. As of 2007, the capacity was 1.67 million. The goal now seems unattainable. Some 40% of the country’s overall wind power capacity is generated in Hokkaido, Aomori, and Akita, all in northern Japan.

Question: Why can’t we all get along?

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After completing their $6 million capital raise the Australian company, BioPower Systems, is working hard on testing what could be the undersea equivalent of a wind farm that will turn wave energy into clean, eco-friendly, renewable electricity. Using a lightweight design in harmony with the ecosystem, the bioWAVE and bioSTREAM devices will reside beneath the water surface, moving and swaying in tune with the ocean’s forces.

The concept looks great, but I wonder who’s going to do the cleaning after a couple of months of staying underwater. Would it affect the whole process of creating energy? Probably, buy I trust these guys with coming up with a solution.

Here’s a video on NationalGeographing where they test the whole concept.