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August 30, 2025
 

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ENVIRONMENT

Energy

Climate change
Energy
Sustainability
Wildlife
Earth science
A worker wearing protective equipment walks near the Electric Arc Furnace at the 7 Steel facility in Cardiff, Wales, on July 18.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Sky-high electricity costs hindering the U.K.s progress toward net zero
Energy bills have stripped firms of money to improve efficiency, deterred the shift to lower-carbon power sources and made wind-farm, pylon and battery production less competitive.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
A startup is tapping underground parking garages for clean energy
Globally, heating accounts for nearly half of all energy consumption. That could make decarbonizing it a half-trillion-dollar market.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
The airline industry's dirty secret: Clean jet fuel failures
An analysis has found that the airline industry's plans to go green before regulators start penalizing them are little more than a pipe dream.
A geothermal energy station in Geretsried, Germany, on Aug. 24, 2023
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 7, 2025
Germany moves to fast-track geothermal energy projects
According to a 2023 study, Germany holds some of Europe's largest geothermal reserves, with the potential to supply over a quarter of its annual heating needs.
Journalists next to heliostat mirrors at the site of Dunhuang Shouhang 100 megawatt Tower Solar Thermal Power Generation Project in Gansu province, China, in 2024
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 5, 2025
China struggles to capitalize on record renewables build-out as grid work lags
The biggest renewables hubs, in the sparsely populated interior, rely on power lines stretching thousands of kilometers to the major cities of the east.
Although the idea is still small in scale, Kitepower flying a giant kite to generate renewable electricity — with Padraic Doherty acting as the "pilot" on the ground — could yet prove to be a mighty plan as Ireland seeks to cut its reliance on fossil fuels such as oil and gas.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 4, 2025
'Let's go fly a kite': Capturing wind for clean energy in Ireland
By Peter MURPHY
A sparsely populated spot in Ireland near the stormy Atlantic coast is home to the world's first designated airborne renewable energy test site.
The Bishu Maru LNG tanker, owned by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, next to the Freeport LNG terminal in Texas
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Aug 3, 2025
How Trump is gaslighting on climate change — with Japan’s help
By Mara Budgen
As the U.S. president ramps up high-polluting LNG projects, Japan is among the nations he's pressuring for investments. The economic case for the push, however, is far from clear.
A technician works on the assembly line at a solar panel manufacturing hub on the outskirts of New Delhi last October.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Jul 27, 2025
Amid fossil fuel shift in U.S., hope emerges for India and Japan tie-up on solar
By Nithin Coca
As the Trump administration shifts back to gas and coal, solar power stakeholders in Japan and India are seeking new ways to collaborate.
Solar power more than doubled to 24% of Pakistan's energy mix in the first five months of 2025, becoming the largest source of energy production for the first time.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Jul 17, 2025
Pakistan's quiet solar rush puts pressure on national grid
By Zain Zaman Janjua
Solar power more than doubled to 24% of Pakistan's energy mix in the first five months of 2025, becoming the largest source of energy production for the first time.
A street in Suttsu, Hokkaido, with a sign put up by an anti-nuclear organization. The small community is considering hosting a facility that would hold nuclear waste.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Jul 6, 2025
Ainu land rights in crosshairs as Hokkaido communities debate nuclear waste
By Chermaine Lee
Some scholars and activists are raising concerns that Indigenous voices are not being heard amid the debate over whether to host nuclear waste storage facilities.

Most Japanese teens struggling with school find end of summer ‘painful’
Some 93.1% of Japanese teenagers who struggle with school life said they felt like they “wanted to disappear from the world" at the end of summer vacation ahead of the start of a new term, according to a recent survey released by Yokohama-based nonprofit Daisan Kazoku.
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
Mitsubishi’s wind-power retreat a blow to Japan's alternative-energy goals
Wind turbines in the town of Happo in Akita prefecture. Wind power is a key part of Japan's alternative energy drive.
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.
Akazawa's trip to Washington for tariff talks abruptly canceled
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, had been set to fly to Washington on Thursday.
Mitsubishi’s wind-power retreat a blow to Japan's alternative-energy goals
Wind turbines in the town of Happo in Akita prefecture. Wind power is a key part of Japan's alternative energy drive.
Virtual singer Kaf's music becomes magic in 'Kamitsubaki City Under Construction'
Virtual singer Kaf got her start in 2018 by posting songs and covers to YouTube. Now, after having performed live shows at major venues including Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan, she is turning to voice acting and starring in the new anime series “Kamitsubaki City Under Construction.”
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.
In pictures: Koenji Awa Odori 2025
Japan Times
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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