The Japanese Ministry of the Environment decided to loosen regulations on geothermal power equipment in national parks on March 21, allowing vertical drilling if certain conditions are met.
Until now, only diagonal drilling from outside of protected zones in parks was allowed, but the new regulations will allow drilling inside those zones if conditions are met. The new regulations will be announced to local governments within the month.
National parks and nationally designated parks are divided into three types of protected zones based on natural views, biodiversity, and other factors. Vertical drilling will be allowed in the two types of zones that are less strictly regulated.
The conditions to be met must be agreed upon by the parties involved and include the introduction of techniques to minimize the impact on the environment, contribution to the area through methods like greening the area or supplying hot water to hot spring facilities, long-term monitoring and release of information.
Japan has a very large potential for geothermal resources, but development has been delayed because some 80 percent of candidate development sites are in national and nationally designated parks.
