Kids Web Japan

Q. What energy sources does Japan use to generate electricity?

A.

According to the statistics for fiscal 2005, 56.8% of Japan's total supply of electricity came from thermal power plants. Hydroelectric power accounted for 7.4% and nuclear power for 35.5%. Japan started using nuclear plants to generate electricity over 30 years ago, and the share of nuclear power has been rising gradually.

The largest single source of energy for thermal power plants is gas (liquefied natural gas, or LNG), which accounts for 32.5% of the total. Next comes coal, at 9.3%, followed by oil, at 4.9%. Various renewable energy sources are also used, like solar energy, geothermal energy (using heat from the earth), and also wind and wave power. One interesting power source is trash! The energy from trash incinerators is being used to generate electricity. In 2003 about 1,233 megawatts of power was produced that would have otherwise “gone up in smoke.”