Japan Minister presses for larger budget for development of geothermal power (Japan Times)
Environment Minister Goshi Hosono said Sunday that the state budget needs to be expanded to promote the development of geothermal power.
"We need to establish a research system to overcome the energy crisis and to provide a reasonable budget," Hosono said after inspecting a geothermal power plant in Fukushima Prefecture.
Japan's failure to sufficiently fund the geothermal power sector has created a shortage of researchers and technology that has not progressed since the 1970s, Hosono said.