Two Japanese professors visited Brighton Energy Co-op this morning to investigate how community energy might work in Japan. “After the nuclear disaster in Fukashima,” said professor Takeshi Wada, of Kyoto University, “it’s imperative Japan moves towards renewables. Schemes like BEC are an exciting way of getting the renewables we need.”
Professor Wada and his wife Sachiko (also a professor) also met with Nick Rouse, director of Lewes’ OVESCO, the UK’s first community solar scheme. Together they visited OVESCO’s 98Kw solar installation on Harvey’s Brewery.
In the wake of the Fukashima nuclear accident the Japanese government has emphasised a that renewables must become a more important part of Japan’s energy supply. With this in mind researchers have been dispatched to Europe, the United States, and China.
Will Cottrell, Chairman of BEC said: “the fact that Professors Wada has travelled all the way to the UK to visit us just shows that idea of community energy is going global. Community scehems are an important part of the ernegy we – and others – desperately need”
The Japanese parliament is currently debating the introduction of a Feed in Tariff, the subsidy scheme that has underpinned renewable energy in the UK, Germany and Denmark.
