MORIOKA, Iwate Pref. (Kyodo) Geothermal power, touted as an alternative energy after the 1973 oil crisis, is being jeopardized by higher costs and difficulties to secure sites for plants.
The problems are severe enough that the technology could die out, despite the growing need for Japan to diversify its sources of energy as the price of crude oil skyrockets.
Geothermal power generation is the process of converting hot water or steam from deep beneath the Earth's surface into electricity.