Considering how aggressivly contries like Denmark, Germany, Portugal, and parts of Canada like Nova Scotia are persuing renewable energy, its a shame that Japan has decided to set such a small goal. At least they notched it up a little today.

The Trade Ministry said it had drawn up a plan requiring Japanese power producers to generate 16 billion kilowatt- hours of energy from renewable sources by March 2015. This would be an increase of 31 percent from the target of 12.2 billion kilowatt-hours, equal to 1.35 percent of total output, set for March 2010.
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“The proposed target is very tough, and it isn’t acceptable,” said Mamoru Muramatsu, general manager for planning at the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan. “We don’t even know whether we can meet the requirement” for 2010.

To reach the 2010 target, utilities need to invest about ¥100 billion, or $820 million, he said.

Seriously? Why is it that countries with much smaller economies are able to do so much more with so much less? If you can build running robots, and pump out hybrids you can throw up a some wind turbines and solar panels. Japan and America seem to be convinced that getting left behind in the race towards strong renewable energy based economies is somehow the right thing to do. Let me be the first to tell you that it is not. With the world rapidly moving towards a renewable based economy any country without a strong renewable energy policy is going to find itself left in the dust.