Clean Technology

Offshore wind farms planned across Japan total 2 trillion yen ($18 billion) in project costs, Mizuho Bank estimates, offering lending opportunities for banks seeking to boost their environmental credentials.

How Japan can meet its future energy needs is not necessarily something you think about while enjoying a nice long soak in a hot-spring bath. But the hot water you’re soaking in is part of the solution, say advocates of geothermal power.

Japanese automakers are moving to extend their iron grip on the Southeast Asian market into electric vehicles, starting with plans to build plug-in and hybrid offerings in Thailand.

In the 12 cities, towns and villages in Fukushima Prefecture that received evacuation orders from the central government or other entity in the wake of the disaster at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the conversion of farmland mainly for the installation of mega-solar power plants has continued apace.

Toyota Motor Corp. and Subaru Corp. have started jointly developing a new electric car, aiming to put it on the market possibly in 2021, sources said Monday.

The joint production of a midsize car is an expansion of their collaboration in recent years in the development of basic EV technology.

Subaru, of which Toyota is a top shareholder, is set to freeze its own EV development project due to the large cost of going it alone, deciding to gain experience from working with Toyota first, according to the sources.

Toyota Motor is entering the electric car market at full force, an area it was one step behind in, with technological help from battery partner Panasonic, as it shores up its presence in the world's largest auto market of China.

Toyota Motor and Panasonic announced on Tuesday the establishment of a joint venture by end-2020 to develop and manufacture batteries for electric vehicles.

Asia has been battered in 2018 by a series of extreme weather events such as floods and typhoons, and the prospects for coming decades are bleak with rising temperatures set to spur even more severe cases of inundation.

Environment Minister Yoshiaki Harada expressed on Wednesday Japan’s readiness to continue efforts to become a global role model that realizes a virtuous circle for the environment and economic growth.

Three months have passed since a strong earthquake hit Hokkaido in early September. In disaster-affected areas, an increasing number of people are using large numbers of trees felled by landslides.