The push to move away from nuclear power because of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant has propelled demand for gas on a global basis — and the subsequent rise in its prices will inevitably hurt Japanese buyers, according to a department head of an Edinburgh-based research and consultancy firm.

"There is an impact (by antinuclear movements) on gas demand because gas and coal will end up replacing some of the nuclear generation that is lost," Noel Tomnay, head of global gas research at Wood Mackenzie Ltd., said in Tokyo.

"At the global level, no one can build renewable sufficiently fast enough to remove the need for either fossil fuels or nuclear generation. Consequently, you are making a political choice between carbon emissions and nuclear generation," said Tomnay, who is on a one-week visit to the country to hold conferences and meetings with his clients amid growing demand for gas.