Renewable energies and disasters

As a result of the March disasters, Japan’s centralized energy systems and the nation’s heavy dependence on nuclear energy also came into the spotlight when, in April and May, Tokyo faced power outages.

Japan’s new Renewable Energy Bill, introduced to the Diet (parliament) in August, sets targets to increase renewable energy production. How policies on renewable energies impact on disaster risk and potential cascading effects, however, is difficult to measure. Furthermore, whilst not detracting from their environmental benefits, some renewable energy strategies can exacerbate or enhance new and existing risks: for example, the widely document link between biofuel crops and food insecurity (substitution of food crops for biofuel crops leads to increased food insecurity). In general, however, risks relating to renewable energy have fewer longitudinal effects than nuclear energy.