Japanese PM Kan is insisting on a strong feed-in tariff for renewable energy

[kristopher]

What is the renewable energy bill that Kan wants to pass so much?

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Question: Prime Minister Naoto Kan has said a bill for fixed price purchasing of renewable energy must pass the Diet before he resigns. What's this bill about?

Answer: The bill is designed to create a legal obligation for power companies to buy all electricity produced from renewable sources -- like wind and solar power -- at a fixed price. The plan would maintain the current system for buying surplus energy from households with home solar power systems.

Q: Why is the bill so important?

A: At the moment, renewable energy generation is more expensive than thermal power generation. If this continues, renewable energy will never be practical as a business, and adoption of renewable energy technology has little chance of progressing. The bill, however, aims to bring more firms into the renewable energy business by promising electricity producers that utilities will buy renewable energy at a profitable price for a certain period of time.

Q: Are the purchase price and ...

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