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GeothermalPower:JapanHasWorld'sThirdLargestGeothermalReserves,60PercentofWhichCanBeDeveloped|JapanforSustainability

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September11,2014

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Geothermal Power: Japan Has World's

Third Largest Geothermal Reserves, 60
Percent of Which Can Be Developed
Keywords:EnvironmentalTechnologyRenewableEnergy

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Japanhasabundantreservesofgeothermalenergy,astablesourceof

MajorJapaneseWindPowerProject
OffshorefromPortofKashima

electricitywithahighutilizationfactoronparwiththermalpower.Belowwe

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shareareportaboutthepresentstatusofgeothermaluseinJapan,including

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Editor'sNote:ThisarticleisreproducedineditedformwithpermissionfromSmart
Japan.SmartJapanisanonlinemediaservicesproviderspecializinginenergy
conservation,storage,andgeneration.

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"JFS'Columns"
TheU.S.,Indonesia,andJapanstandoutamongtheworld'slargestholdersof

CurrentStatusofRenewableEnergyin

geothermalreserves.TheinstalledgeothermalcapacityinJapanremainslessthanhalf

Japan

thatoftheothertwocountries,sotheroomfordevelopmentissignificantlylarge.The

Decreaserateofelectricitysalesand

costofgeothermalpowergenerationisaround10yen(about10centsU.S.)perkilowatt

operationrateofnuclearpowerplants

hour,aslowasthatofgasfiredpower.TherelaxationofregulationsonJapan'snational

JapaneseMunicipalitieswithAmbitious

parks,wheregeothermalresourcesareconcentrated,hasbeenaccelerating.

TargetstoReduceCO2/GHGEmissions

Japanhasmanyactivevolcanoeswithinitsnarrownationalterritoryandthushasplenty
ofgeothermalresourcesunderground.Theseresourcescouldamounttoasmanyas

WhatotherssayaboutJFS

23,470,000kWinelectricity,equivalenttotheenergyconsumedby40millionordinary
households.Yetonlytwopercentofitisactuallyusedforpowergeneration(Figure1).

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SteadyStateEconomy

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Energy/ClimateChange
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WellBeing
CivilSociety

Figure1.GeothermalResourcesofMajorCountries
Source:NewEnergyandIndustrialTechnologyDevelopment(NEDO)
(preparedbasedondatafromtheNationalInstituteof
AdvancedIndustrialScienceandTechnologyandotherorganizations)

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Theprincipalfactorresponsiblefortheslowdevelopmentofgeothermalresourcesin
Japanisthatmostareaswithactivevolcanoeshavebeendesignatedasnationalparks,
wheredevelopmentisseverelyrestricted.However,therelaxationofregulationson
naturalparksbytheMinistryoftheEnvironmentinMarch2012andthestartofanational
feedintariffschemeinJulyofthesameyeartriggeredgeothermalexplorationprojects
acrossJapan(Figure2).

Figure2.ProgressofMajorGeothermalPowerGenerationProjects
(asofJanuary10,2014clickthechartforalargerimage)
Source:JapaneseAgencyforNaturalResourcesandEnergy

Theadvantageofgeothermalpowerliesinitsutilizationfactor,whichisabout70
percent,almostashighasthermalpower.Andsinceitgenerateselectricityconsistently
throughouttheyear,itspowergenerationcostisthelowestamongrenewableenergies,
andalmostassameasthermalpowerwithliquefiednaturalgas(LNG).(Figure3)The
Japanesegovernmenthasalsorecognizedgeothermalasabaseloadpowersource
andallocatedalargebudgettofacilitatedevelopmentprojects.

Figure3.Comparisonofpowergenerationcost
betweenrenewablesourcesandLNGthermal
Source:NEDO(preparedbasedondatafromtheCostsValidationCommittee)

Newgeothermalpowergenerationresourcesislowtemperature
waterat120Celsiusorlower
AboutaquarterofthegeothermalresourcesinJapanoraboutsixmillionkW'sworth
existsinareaswheredevelopmenthastraditionallybeenallowed.Theannualoutput
fromtheseresourcescouldmeettheneedsofasmanyastenmillionhouseholds.With

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GeothermalPower:JapanHasWorld'sThirdLargestGeothermalReserves,60PercentofWhichCanBeDeveloped|JapanforSustainability

increasedderegulation,itisestimatedthatthispotentialcoulddoubleormore.(Figure4)

Figure4.PotentialGeothermalResourceDevelopmentSites
Source:NEDO(preparedbasedondatafrom
theAgencyforNaturalResourcesandEnergy)

Alsonoteworthyisanewtechnologycalledbinarycyclegeneration.Whileconventional
geothermalenergygenerationrequireshotwaterabove150degreesCelsius,binary
cyclemethodcangeneratepowerusinglowertemperaturewater,significantlyexpanding
thepotentialofgeothermalresources.

Inparticular,coolerwaterbetween53and120degreesofferssubstantialpotential.The
MinistryoftheEnvironmentestimatesthathotwaterinthistemperaturerangealonehas
thegenerationpotentialof7.5millionkW,exceedingeventhepotentialofhotwaterover
150degrees.(Figure5)

Figure5.AvailableGeothermalResourcesandTheirGenerationPotential
Source:NEDO(preparedbasedondatafromMinistryoftheEnvironment)

Binarycyclegenerationplantsarecompactinsizeandtakeonlyaboutayeartobuild.
Andthe53120degreehotwateriswidelydistributedthroughoutthecountry,especially
inmountainousareasinEastJapanandHokkaido(Figure6).Withthefeedintariffsetat
ahigh40yen(withouttax)perkWh,wemaywellseegeothermalpowergenerationgrow
veryquicklyinJapan.

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GeothermalPower:JapanHasWorld'sThirdLargestGeothermalReserves,60PercentofWhichCanBeDeveloped|JapanforSustainability

Figure6.Distributionofhotwatergeothermalresources(53120)
Source:MinistryoftheEnvironment

Source:SmartJapan(inJapanese)

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Jointhediscussion
Ecomike ayearago

GeothermalpowercombinedwiththeERC(ElectrolyticReductionofCarbon)
inCO2tomakeanewgenerationofcleanfuel(formicacid)outofrenewable
powerandwasteCO2foruseinanewgenerationofMVTGMRFCfuelcells
wouldworkwellinJapanandhelpreduceCO2emissionsandtransportation
ICEengineairpollution.Formoredetails:
http://mantraenergy.com/mantra...
http://mantraenergy.com/mantra...
http://mantraenergy.com/mantra...
http://mantraenergy.com/mantra...
http://mantraenergy.com/mantra...
http://mantraenergy.com/mantra...
http://mantraenergy.com/wpcon...

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