Japan:

Ministry to Allow Drilling in National Parks to Gain Geothermal Power (Asahi Shimbun)

The Japanese Environment Ministry said it will lift restrictions on drilling operations underneath national parks and quasi-national parks to make 70 percent of geothermal energy reserves in Japan available for development.

An expert panel of the ministry on July 30 approved the plan to attain more renewable energy sources. The ministry plans to issue an official notification in autumn.

The new guidelines will allow geothermal development of Class 1 Special Zones, or areas within Japanese national parks that require significant preservation efforts. Development within Special Protection Zones, the most heavily restricted of national park areas, will remain prohibited.

But geothermal power resources underneath Class 1 Special Zones can only be tapped through buildings constructed outside these areas. Operators will be able to drill diagonally from outside the zones to reach the geothermal reservoirs.

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