Fukushima is planning to transform itself into a renewable energy hub, almost nine years after it became the scene of one of the world’s worst nuclear accidents. The prefecture in north-east Japan will forever be associated with the triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011.
But in a most ambitious project, the local government has vowed to power the region with 100% renewable energy by 2040, compared with 40% today. The 300 billion-yen (£3bn) project, sponsors of which include the government-owned Development Bank of Japan and Mizuho Bank, will involve the construction of 11 solar and 10 wind farms on abandoned farmland and in mountainous areas by the end of March 2024.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the land around Chernobyl in the Ukraine, sterilised since the world’s worst nuclear accident one-third of a century ago, could be brought back into equally productive use? Instead of just being abandoned entirely to ghoulish followers of a Netflix television series.