Transforming Japan Into an Energy Rich Country - What Needs to be Done?

After the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the consequent shutdown of all nuclear reactors, Japan has been forced to re-consider its energy and climate policy speeding up the expansion of renewable energy and granting it a larger share in its future energy mix. However, a stronger reliance on renewables may not only be a necessity, it might also come as an opportunity, given the abundance of renewable energy resources in Japan and their increasing price competitiveness due to continuing technological advances. Can resource poor Japan, that presently imports more than 90 per cent of its primary energy supply, become an energy rich country? If so, what is needed to achieve such a fundamental transformation?