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Aaron Sheldrick
For Aaron Sheldrick's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2021
Asia looks to release oil reserves after U.S. request
The world's biggest economies said on Thursday they were looking into releasing oil from their strategic reserves, following a rare request from the United States.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Nov 9, 2021
Japan, once a leader on climate, under fire at COP26 over coal use
The country's refusal to sign a pact to phase out the fuel was short-sighted, critics have said.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 2, 2021
Japanese startup designs wind turbine that can harness typhoon energy
Challenergy has designed a turbine that works in cyclonic conditions, which typically shut down most wind installations.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 12, 2021
Power prices in Japan hit nine-month highs amid global energy crunch
For Japan, which imports all but a tiny amount of its energy needs, higher oil, gas and coal prices are bringing back inflation, with wholesale prices at 13-year highs.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jun 23, 2021
As Japan reboots 44-year-old nuclear reactor, experts sound alarm
Kansai Electric Power Co. restarted the No. 3 reactor at its Mihama station in Fukui Prefecture on Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2020
A trip to the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant: Full-body suits and three layers of socks
Reuters was recently given exclusive access to the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, where three reactors melted down in 2011 after a powerful earthquake and tsunami overwhelmed the seaside facility.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 24, 2019
How rare earth shocks lifted an upstart Australian mining company
Sprawled across a spent volcano on the remote edge of the Great Victoria Desert in Western Australia, the Mount Weld mine seems a world away from the U.S.-China trade war.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Nov 1, 2018
Japan's nuclear industry growing but likely to miss government's 2030 target
Operators can expect as few as six units to restart in the next five years, and fewer than 20 by 2030.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2018
Hokkaido test site outshining other carbon-capture options in race to reduce emissions
A test site in Japan for burying carbon dioxide (CO2) below the seabed off Hokkaido is showing more promise than other carbon, capture and storage (CCS) projects by cutting costs and increasing efficiency, its developer says.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2017
Japan nuclear watchdog says restart approval pace unlikely to speed up
The pace of approvals for nuclear reactor restarts in Japan, where most plants remain shut following the 2011 Fukushima disaster, is unlikely to pick up in the coming years, the new head of Japan's nuclear regulator said in an interview on Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2017
Quiet energy revolution underway in Japan as dozens of towns go off the grid
A Miyagi city's efforts to rebuild its electrical power system after 3/11 mark a quiet shift away from Japan's old utility model and toward self-reliant, local generation and transmission.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 30, 2017
Norway takes on Australia in bid to fulfill Japan's hydrogen society dream
Norway and Australia race each other to show they can supply Japan with hydrogen, which has ambitions of becoming the first nation to be significantly fueled by the superclean energy source.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Dec 12, 2014
Japan's coal binge stirs international climate fears
Once at the forefront of the global warming battle, Japan is being pressured to set fresh emissions targets as it burns dirty coal energy to replace nuclear.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 23, 2014
U.S. calls out Japan on coal plant exports
The United States has challenged the Japanese government over moves to ramp up exports of coal-fired power technology and to offer cheap loans to lure buyers, according to a U.S. source with direct knowledge of the matter.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2014
Costs keep mounting for idled reactors
Since March 2011, the government has focused on the cost of cleaning up after Fukushima, the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. Now, the bill is coming due for another unbudgeted consequence of that calamity — shutting down the nation's 48 remaining nuclear reactors for costly safety reviews that could see many of them mothballed.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2014
Only a third of nuclear reactors may be restarted
Three years after the Fukushima disaster prompted the closure of all of Japan's nuclear reactors, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is moving to revive atomic power as a core part of the nation's energy mix, but many of those idled reactors will never come back online.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 5, 2014
Japan's embrace of Russia under threat with Ukraine crisis
Russia's incursion into Ukraine is setting off alarm bells in Tokyo, where officials worry that any push by the nation's Western allies to impose economic penalties will undermine its drive to improve relations with Moscow.

Longform

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