Webpages

Monday, July 16, 2012

Japan:

Japan allows first geothermal power plant to be built inside national park (The Japan Daily Press)

(Courtesy The Japan Daily Press) 
The hot spring resort known as Tsuchiyu Onsen, located in Fukushima City, will be the first Japanese national park to have a geothermal power plant constructed within its borders. This development comes after the Environment Ministry relaxed its regulations in March of this year, now permitting geothermal power generation within its designated parks. 

The advantage is two-fold in that national parks with hot springs are rich for geothermal development, and the number of tourists visiting the resorts has significantly dropped since last year’s nuclear crisis at the Fukushima power plant.