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84-617: Construction began in 1961. The construction of the dam created Lake Azusa. The Azumi Power Station is operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). The dam is part of the Azusa 3 Dams, along with Midono Dam ; and the Inekoki Dam . The dams use pumped-storage hydroelectricity . This article about a dam or floodgate in Chūbu region of Honshu, Japan is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Nagano Prefecture location article

168-546: A former atomic energy policy planner in Japan's Science and Technology Agency and Akira Omoto, a former TEPCO executive and a member of the Japanese Atomic Energy Commission both questioned TEPCO's management's decisions in the crisis. Kazuma Yokota, a safety inspector with Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency , or NISA, was at Fukushima I at the time of the earthquake and tsunami and provided details of

252-433: A given stabilization level, larger emissions reductions in the near term allow for less stringent emissions reductions later. On the other hand, less stringent near term emissions reductions would, for a given stabilization level, require more stringent emissions reductions later on. The first period Kyoto emissions limitations can be viewed as a first-step towards achieving atmospheric stabilization of GHGs. In this sense,

336-500: A hypothetical baseline of emissions. Only emission reduction projects that do not involve using nuclear energy are eligible for accreditation under the CDM, in order to prevent nuclear technology exports from becoming the default route for obtaining credits under the CDM. Each Annex I country is required to submit an annual report of inventories of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions from sources and removals from sinks under UNFCCC and

420-409: A lot more to stabilise and decommission the reactors" at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant, and: "It is impossible" to abandon the domestic task and promote exports. [REDACTED] Media related to Tokyo Electric Power Company at Wikimedia Commons Kyoto Protocol The Kyoto Protocol ( Japanese : 京都議定書 , Hepburn : Kyōto Giteisho ) was an international treaty which extended

504-563: A proposal to its shareholders for the company to be part-nationalized. The Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation later became the majority stockholder to oversee the damages and decommissioning of the power plant. The total cost of the disaster was estimated at $ 100 billion in May 2012. Japan's electricity sector, nationalized in 1939 in preparation of total war (the Pacific War ), were privatized in 1951 on behest of

588-511: A public commitment that the company would take all the countermeasures necessary to prevent fraud and restore the nation's confidence. By the end of 2005, generation at suspended plants had been restarted, with government approval. In 2007, however, the company announced to the public that an internal investigation had revealed a large number of unreported incidents . These included an unexpected unit criticality in 1978 and additional systematic false reporting, which had not been uncovered during

672-655: A quantitative total limit on the emissions produced by all participating emitters, which correspondingly determines the prices of emissions. Under emission trading, a polluter having more emissions than their quota has to purchase the right to emit more from emitters with fewer emissions. This can reduce the competitiveness of fossil fuels , which are the main driver of climate change . Instead, carbon emissions trading may accelerate investments into renewable energy , such as wind power and solar power . However, such schemes are usually not harmonized with defined carbon budgets that are required to maintain global warming below

756-438: A result. TEPCO's chairman Hiroshi Araki, President Nobuya Minami, Vice-President Toshiaki Enomoto, as well as the advisers Shō Nasu and Gaishi Hiraiwa stepped-down by September 30, 2002. The utility "eventually admitted to two hundred occasions over more than two decades between 1977 and 2002, involving the submission of false technical data to authorities". Upon taking over leadership responsibilities, TEPCO's new president issued

840-420: A second commitment period. The first period emission reduction commitments expired on 31 December 2012. The first-round Kyoto emissions limitation commitments were not sufficient to stabilize the atmospheric concentration of GHGs. Stabilization of atmospheric GHG concentrations will require further emissions reductions after the end of the first-round Kyoto commitment period in 2012. The ultimate objective of

924-592: A surplus of allowances, while many OECD countries have a deficit. Some of the EITs with a surplus regard it as potential compensation for the trauma of their economic restructuring. When the Kyoto treaty was negotiated, it was recognized that emissions targets for the EITs might lead to them having an excess number of allowances. This excess of allowances were viewed by the EITs as "headroom" to grow their economies. The surplus has, however, also been referred to by some as "hot air",

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1008-431: A term which Russia (a country with an estimated surplus of 3.1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent allowances) views as "quite offensive". OECD countries with a deficit could meet their Kyoto commitments by buying allowances from transition countries with a surplus. Unless other commitments were made to reduce the total surplus in allowances, such trade would not actually result in emissions being reduced (see also

1092-415: A year from the pay cuts. In July 2012 it was announced that annual salaries of managers would be reduced by at least 30%, with workers pay cut remaining at 20%. On average employees pay would be cut by 23.68%. In addition, the portion of the employee health insurance program that the company covers would be reduced from 60% to 50%, the standard in Japan. TEPCO is the largest electric utility in Japan and

1176-768: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Tokyo Electric Power Company Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Incorporated ( Japanese : 東京電力ホールディングス株式会社 , Tōkyō Denryoku Hōrudingusu kabushiki gaisha , TEPCO , also known as Tōden ( 東電 ) in Japan) is a Japanese electric utility holding company servicing Japan's Kantō region , Yamanashi Prefecture, and the eastern portion of Shizuoka Prefecture. This area includes Tokyo. Its headquarters are located in Uchisaiwaicho , Chiyoda, Tokyo , and international branch offices exist in Washington, D.C. , and London . It

1260-577: Is a founding member of strategic consortiums related to energy innovation and research; such as JINED , INCJ and MAI. In 2007, TEPCO was forced to shut the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant after the Niigata-Chuetsu-Oki earthquake. That year, it posted its first loss in 28 years. Corporate losses continued until the plant reopened in 2009. Following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami , one of its power plants

1344-722: Is designed to transmit electricity at high-voltage (66-500kV) between power plants and substations. Normally transmission lines are strung between towers, but within the Tokyo metropolitan area high-voltage lines are located underground. From substations, electricity is transmitted via the distribution grid at low-voltage (22-66kV). For high-voltage supply to large buildings and factories, distribution lines are directly connected to customers' electricity systems. In this case, customers must purchase and set up transformers and other equipment to run electric appliances. For low voltage supply to houses and small shops, distribution lines are first connected to

1428-474: Is expected to play a key role in achieving Japan's targets for reduced carbon dioxide emissions under the Kyoto Protocol . It also faces difficulties related to the trend towards deregulation in Japan's electric industry as well as low power demand growth. In light of these circumstances, TEPCO launched an extensive sales promotion campaign called 'Switch!', promoting all-electric housing in order to both achieve

1512-505: Is that the marginal cost of reducing (or abating) emissions differs among countries. "Marginal cost" is the cost of abating the last tonne of CO 2 -eq for an Annex I/non-Annex I Party. At the time of the original Kyoto targets, studies suggested that the flexibility mechanisms could reduce the overall ( aggregate ) cost of meeting the targets. Studies also showed that national losses in Annex I gross domestic product (GDP) could be reduced by

1596-524: Is working for or against the workers and soldiers struggling to re-establish cooling at the crippled plant." One report noted that defense minister, Toshimi Kitazawa , on 21 March had committed "military firefighters to spray water around the clock on an overheated storage pool at Reactor No. 3." The report concluded with "a senior nuclear executive who insisted on anonymity but has many contacts in Japan sa[ying that] ... caution ... [as] plant operators have been struggling to reduce workers’ risk ... had increased

1680-470: The 2007 Chūetsu offshore earthquake . To meet demand, the company purchased electricity from competitors and restarted thermal power plants, resulting in significant additional oil and gas consumption. These activities caused the company to post its first loss in 28 years. On 11 March 2011, several nuclear reactors in Japan were badly damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami . The Tōkai Nuclear Power Plant lost external electric power, experienced

1764-588: The European Union (and its then 28 member states , now 27), Belarus , Iceland , Kazakhstan , Liechtenstein , Norway , Switzerland , and Ukraine . Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine stated that they may withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol or not put into legal force the Amendment with second round targets. Japan, New Zealand , and Russia had participated in Kyoto's first-round but did not take on new targets in

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1848-559: The Fukushima Daiichi plant would now enter commercial operation in October 2014 and October 2015, respectively. However, following the nuclear crisis of 2011, these plans have been cancelled. According to TEPCO's official regulatory paper, starting operation of Higashidori is expressed as 'Not yet determined'. TEPCO has a total of 160 hydroelectric stations with a total capacity of 8,520 MW. The largest pumped-storage plants are: Under

1932-433: The U.S./Allied occupation forces , creating nine privately owned government-granted monopolies , one in a certain region; this included TEPCO. Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. was established by reorganizing Kanto Haiden and Nippon Shuden, which were established through wartime integration. In the 1950s, the company's primary goal was to facilitate a rapid recovery from the infrastructure devastation of World War II . After

2016-560: The earthquake , but the subsequent tsunami flooded the plant, knocking out emergency generators needed to run pumps which cool and control the reactors. The flooding and earthquake damage prevented assistance being brought from elsewhere. Over the following days there was evidence of partial nuclear meltdowns in reactors 1, 2 and 3; hydrogen explosions destroyed the upper cladding of the building housing reactors 1 and 3; an explosion damaged reactor 2's containment; and severe fires broke out at reactor 4. The Fukushima nuclear disaster revealed

2100-432: The "official" expected height of 5.7 meters was studied on the performance of the reactors. This was done after the large Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. The conclusion from the simulation in 2006 was, that a 13.5 meter wave would cause a complete loss of all power and would make it impossible to inject water into reactor No.5. The costs to protect the plant for such an event was estimated to be about 25 million dollars. In 2008,

2184-473: The 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions , based on the scientific consensus that global warming is occurring and that human-made CO 2 emissions are driving it. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto , Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. There were 192 parties ( Canada withdrew from

2268-403: The 2002 inquiry. Along with scandals at other Japanese electric companies, this failure to ensure corporate compliance resulted in strong public criticism of Japan's electric power industry and the nation's nuclear energy policy . Again, the company made no effort to identify those responsible. In 2008, Tokyo Electric was forced to shut down the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant following

2352-727: The 2015 adoption of the Paris Agreement , which is a separate instrument under the UNFCCC rather than an amendment of the Kyoto Protocol. 1992 – The UN Conference on the Environment and Development is held in Rio de Janeiro. It results in the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) among other agreements. 1995 – Parties to the UNFCCC meet in Berlin (the 1st Conference of Parties (COP) to

2436-766: The 4th largest electric utility in the world after German RWE , French Électricité de France and Germany 's E.ON . As TEPCO stands in a leading position in this industry, they have relatively a strong effect for Japanese economics, environment, and energy industry. For the fiscal years ending in 2011, 2012 the company had a pretax loss, in 2013 the deficit was 377.6 billion yen. In the following year 2014 red figures were expected too. The company's power generation consists of two main networks. Fossil fuel power plants around Tokyo Bay are used for peak load supply and nuclear reactors in Fukushima and Niigata Prefecture provide base load supply. Additionally, hydroelectric plants in

2520-555: The CDM and JI can be used by Annex I Parties in meeting their emission limitation commitments. The emission reductions produced by the CDM and JI are both measured against a hypothetical baseline of emissions that would have occurred in the absence of a particular emission reduction project. The emission reductions produced by the CDM are called Certified Emission Reductions (CERs); reductions produced by JI are called emission reduction units (ERUs). The reductions are called " credits " because they are emission reductions credited against

2604-715: The CDM. Russia accounts for about two-thirds of these savings, with the remainder divided up roughly equally between Ukraine and the EU's New Member States. Emission savings include cuts in methane, HFC, and N 2 O emissions. The agreement is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, which did not set any legally binding limitations on emissions or enforcement mechanisms. Only Parties to

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2688-523: The Caribbean make up 15% of the potential total, with Brazil as the largest producer in the region (7%). The formal crediting period for Joint Implementation (JI) was aligned with the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, and did not start until January 2008 (Carbon Trust, 2009, p. 20). In November 2008, only 22 JI projects had been officially approved and registered. The total projected emission savings from JI by 2012 are about one tenth that of

2772-495: The Doha Amendment. It entered into force on 31 December 2020, following its acceptance by the mandated minimum of at least 144 states, although the second commitment period ended on the same day. Of the 37 parties with binding commitments, 34 had ratified. Negotiations were held in the framework of the yearly UNFCCC Climate Change Conferences on measures to be taken after the second commitment period ended in 2020. This resulted in

2856-506: The Fukushima Dai-ichi (Fukushima I) nuclear power plant began operational generation on March 26, 1971. During the 1980s and 1990s, the widespread use of air-conditioners and IT/OA appliances resulted a gap between day and night electricity demand. In order to reduce surplus generation capacity and increase capacity utilization, TEPCO developed pumped storage hydroelectric power plants and promoted thermal storage units. Recently, TEPCO

2940-646: The Fukushima plant. On July 31, 2012, TEPCO was substantially nationalized by receiving a capital injection of 1 trillion yen ($ 12.5bn) from the Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund (currently Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation ), a government-backed support body. The Fund holds the majority (50.11%) of voting rights with an option to raise that figure to 88.69% by converting preferred stocks into common stocks. This Japan's biggest utility had received by

3024-491: The GIS is not required under the Kyoto Protocol, and there is no official definition of the term. Under the GIS a party to the protocol expecting that the development of its economy will not exhaust its Kyoto quota, can sell the excess of its Kyoto quota units (AAUs) to another party. The proceeds from the AAU sales should be "greened", i.e. channelled to the development and implementation of

3108-538: The Kyoto Protocol was to control emissions of the main anthropogenic (human-emitted) greenhouse gases (GHGs) in ways that reflect underlying national differences in GHG emissions, wealth, and capacity to make the reductions. The treaty follows the main principles agreed in the original 1992 UN Framework Convention. According to the treaty, in 2012, Annex I Parties who have ratified the treaty must have fulfilled their obligations of greenhouse gas emissions limitations established for

3192-576: The Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period (2008–2012). These emissions limitation commitments are listed in Annex B of the Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol's first round commitments are the first detailed step taken within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Protocol establishes a structure of rolling emission reduction commitment periods. It set a timetable starting in 2006 for negotiations to establish emission reduction commitments for

3276-502: The Kyoto Protocol. These countries nominate a person (called a "designated national authority") to create and manage its greenhouse gas inventory . Virtually all of the non-Annex I countries have also established a designated national authority to manage their Kyoto obligations, specifically the "CDM process". This determines which GHG projects they wish to propose for accreditation by the CDM Executive Board. Emissions trading sets

3360-773: The Protocol. Annex I Parties use of forest management in meeting their targets is capped. Under the Kyoto Protocol, 37 industrialized countries and the European Community (the European Union -15, made up of 15 states at the time of the Kyoto negotiations) commit themselves to binding targets for GHG emissions. The targets apply to the four greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane ( CH 4 ), nitrous oxide ( N 2 O ), sulphur hexafluoride ( SF 6 ), and two groups of gases, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs). The six GHG are translated into CO 2 equivalents in determining reductions in emissions. These reduction targets are in addition to

3444-477: The Tokyo District Court on September 19, 2019. On 30 March 2011, the president of TEPCO, Masataka Shimizu, was hospitalized with symptoms of dizziness and high blood pressure in the wake of an increasingly serious outlook for the Fukushima plant and increasing levels of radiation from the stricken plant, as well as media reports of TEPCO's imminent nationalization or bankruptcy triggered by the situation at

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3528-539: The UNFCCC can become Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted at the third session of the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan. National emission targets specified in the Kyoto Protocol exclude international aviation and shipping. Kyoto Parties can use land use , land use change , and forestry (LULUCF) in meeting their targets. LULUCF activities are also called "sink" activities. Changes in sinks and land use can have an effect on

3612-470: The UNFCCC is the "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would stop dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system." Even if Annex I Parties succeed in meeting their first-round commitments, much greater emission reductions will be required in future to stabilize atmospheric GHG concentrations. For each of the different anthropogenic GHGs, different levels of emissions reductions would be required to meet

3696-498: The UNFCCC) to outline specific targets on emissions. 1997 – In December the parties conclude the Kyoto Protocol in Kyoto, Japan, in which they agree to the broad outlines of emissions targets. 2004 – Russia and Canada ratify the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC bringing the treaty into effect on 16 February 2005. 2011 – Canada became the first signatory to announce its withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol. 2012 – On 31 December 2012,

3780-427: The base year level), while others have limitations above the base year level. Emission limits do not include emissions by international aviation and shipping. Although Belarus and Turkey are listed in the convention's Annex I, they do not have emissions targets as they were not Annex I Parties when the Protocol was adopted. Kazakhstan does not have a target, but has declared that it wishes to become an Annex I Party to

3864-503: The climate, and indeed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 's Special Report on Land use, land-use change, and forestry estimates that since 1750 a third of global warming has been caused by land use change. Particular criteria apply to the definition of forestry under the Kyoto Protocol. Forest management , cropland management, grazing land management, and revegetation are all eligible LULUCF activities under

3948-499: The company's transformers (seen on utility poles and utility boxes), converted to 100/200V, and finally connected to end users. Under normal conditions, TEPCO's transmission and distribution infrastructure is notable as one of the most reliable electricity networks in the world. Blackout frequency and average recovery time compares favorably with other electric companies in Japan as well as within other developed countries. The company instituted its first-ever rolling blackouts following

4032-513: The company. The two life insurance companies had lost their interest in TEPCO after the shares had lost almost all their value at the stock market. At the next shareholders meeting of TEPCO in June 2012, Tokyo hoped to put a halt to TEPCO's plans raising the price of electricity. This position was changed by later ownership changes. Tokyo Electric Power could face 2 trillion yen ($ 23.6 bln) in special losses in

4116-488: The convention (the non-Annex I Parties) are mostly low-income developing countries, and may participate in the Kyoto Protocol through the Clean Development Mechanism (explained below). The emissions limitations of Annex I Parties varies between different Parties. Some Parties have emissions limitations reduce below the base year level, some have limitations at the base year level (no permitted increase above

4200-761: The critical thresholds of 1.5 °C or "well below" 2 °C, with oversupply leading to low prices of allowances with almost no effect on fossil fuel combustion. Emission trade allowances currently cover a wide price range from €7 per tonne of CO 2 in China's national carbon trading scheme to €63 per tonne of CO 2 in the EU-ETS (as of September 2021). The design of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) implicitly allows for trade of national Kyoto obligations to occur between participating countries. The Carbon Trust found that other than

4284-556: The current business year to March 2012 to compensate communities near its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, according to JP Morgan . The company workers agreed to a management proposal to cut their pay as a sense of responsibility for the world's worst nuclear disaster. Annual remuneration for board members would be reduced by 50 percent since April 2011, while payment for managers would be cut by 25 percent and workers by 20 percent both since July 2011 and bonuses since June 2011. The company expects to save about 54 billion yen ($ 659 million)

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4368-525: The current levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The Protocol's first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012. All 36 countries that fully participated in the first commitment period complied with the Protocol. However, nine countries had to resort to the flexibility mechanisms by funding emission reductions in other countries because their national emissions were slightly greater than their targets. The financial crisis of 2007–08 reduced emissions. The greatest emission reductions were seen in

4452-438: The dangers of building multiple nuclear reactor units close to one another. This proximity triggered the parallel, chain-reaction accidents that led to hydrogen explosions blowing the roofs off reactor buildings and water draining from open-air spent fuel pools —a situation that was potentially more dangerous than the loss of reactor cooling itself. Because of the proximity of the reactors, Plant Director Masao Yoshida "was put in

4536-415: The early progression of the crisis. The Fukushima disaster displaced 50,000 households in the evacuation zone because of radioactivity releases into the air, soil and sea. In 2012, it was reported that 8.5 tonnes of radioactive water had leaked from Fukushima Daiichi No.4. In June 2012, TEPCO revealed, that in 2006 and 2008 TEPCO-employees made two studies in which the effect of tsunami-waves higher than

4620-601: The effect of a 10 meter high tsunami was calculated. TEPCO failed in both cases to take advantage of this knowledge, and nothing was done to prevent such an event to happen, because the study sessions were conducted only as a training for junior employees, and the company did not really expect such large tsunamis. TEPCO subsequently signed a partnership with French company Areva to treat the contaminated water. In 2016, three former TEPCO executives, chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata and two vice presidents, were indicted for negligence resulting in death and injury. All were acquitted by

4704-433: The end of February 2016 at least 5.7609 trillion yen in state support since the tsunami. The total cost of the disaster was estimated at $ 100bn in May 2012. In April, all Japanese nuclear reactors were closed. In March 2008, Tokyo Electric announced that the start of operation of four new nuclear power reactors would be postponed by one year due to the incorporation of new earthquake resistance assessments. Units 7 and 8 of

4788-523: The end of the first Kyoto commitment period, the CDM is expected to produce some 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2 e) in emission reductions. Most of these reductions are through renewable energy commercialisation , energy efficiency , and fuel switching (World Bank, 2010, p. 262). By 2012, the largest potential for production of CERs are estimated in China (52% of total CERs) and India (16%). CERs produced in Latin America and

4872-548: The evacuation zone because of leaks of radioactive materials into the air, soil and sea. In July 2012, TEPCO received ¥1 trillion (US$ 12 billion) from the Japanese government in order to prevent collapse of the company to ensure electricity is still being supplied to Tokyo and its surrounding municipalities, and decommission the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant . TEPCO's management subsequently made

4956-474: The evening of 12 March, though executives had started considering it that morning. TEPCO didn't begin using seawater at other reactors until 13 March. Referring to that same early decision-making sequence, "Michael Friedlander, a former senior operator at a Pennsylvania power plant with General Electric reactors similar to the troubled ones in Japan, said the crucial question is whether Japanese officials followed G.E.’s emergency operating procedures." Kuni Yogo,

5040-467: The failure of one of its two cooling pumps, and two of its three emergency power generators. External electric power could only be restored two days after the earthquake. The Japanese government declared an "atomic power emergency" and evacuated thousands of residents living close to TEPCO's Fukushima I plant . Reactors 4, 5 and 6 had been shut down prior to the earthquake for planned maintenance. The remaining reactors were shut down automatically after

5124-549: The first commitment period under the Protocol expired. The official meeting of all states party to the Kyoto Protocol is the annual Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The first conference was held in 1995 in Berlin ( COP 1 ). The first Meeting of Parties of the Kyoto Protocol (CMP) was held in 2005 in conjunction with COP 11 . The main goal of

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5208-691: The first period Kyoto commitments may affect what future atmospheric stabilization level can be achieved. Some of the principal concepts of the Kyoto Protocol are: The Protocol defines three " flexibility mechanisms " that can be used by Annex I Parties in meeting their emission limitation commitments. The flexibility mechanisms are International Emissions Trading (IET), the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and Joint Implementation (JI). IET allows Annex I Parties to "trade" their emissions ( Assigned Amount Units , AAUs, or "allowances" for short). The economic basis for providing this flexibility

5292-422: The first time that the nuclear complex — with heavy damage to reactors and buildings and with radioactive contamination throughout — would be closed once the crisis was over." At the same time, questions are being asked, looking back, about whether company management waited too long before pumping seawater into the plant, a measure that would ruin and has now ruined the reactors; and, looking forward, "whether time

5376-494: The former Eastern Bloc countries because the dissolution of the Soviet Union reduced their emissions in the early 1990s. Even though the 36 developed countries reduced their emissions, the global emissions increased by 32% from 1990 to 2010. A second commitment period was agreed to in 2012 to extend the agreement to 2020, known as the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol, in which 37 countries had binding targets: Australia ,

5460-474: The industrial gases, chlorofluorocarbons , or CFCs, which are dealt with under the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer . Under the Protocol, only the Annex I Parties have committed themselves to national or joint reduction targets (formally called "quantified emission limitation and reduction objectives" (QELRO) – Article 4.1). Parties to the Kyoto Protocol not listed in Annex I of

5544-721: The lead of an organization affiliated with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Tokyo Electric Power Company is working out next-gen car battery norms. It has developed a specification for high-voltage DC automotive fast charging using a JARI Level 3 DC connector , and formed the CHΛdeMO (stands for Charge and Move) association with Japanese automakers Mitsubishi , Nissan and Subaru to promote it. Early June 2012 TEPCO announced that it would cancel all export of nuclear expertise abroad, because it needed to focus on

5628-459: The more efficient use of its generation capacity as well as erode the market share of gas companies. As Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. is a holding company, there are several major wholly owned subsidiaries. In March 2010, the last year before 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, TEPCO listed 10 entities as its major shareholders, amounting to 27.35% of all shares. Five of the ten were Japanese banks, two were Japanese insurance companies,

5712-543: The mountainous areas outside the Kanto Plain , despite their relatively small capacity compared to fossil fuel and nuclear generation, remain important in providing peak load supply. The company also purchases electricity from other regional or wholesale electric power companies like Tohoku Electric Power , J-POWER , and Japan Atomic Power Company . The company has built a radiated and circular grid between power plants and urban/industrial demand areas. Each transmission line

5796-443: The objective of stabilizing atmospheric concentrations . Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is the most important anthropogenic GHG. Stabilizing the concentration of CO 2 in the atmosphere would ultimately require the effective elimination of anthropogenic CO 2 emissions. To achieve stabilization, global GHG emissions must peak, then decline. The lower the desired stabilization level, the sooner this peak and decline must occur. For

5880-569: The position of trying to cope simultaneously with core meltdowns at three reactors and exposed fuel pools at three units". The Japanese authorities rated the events at reactors 1, 2 and 3 as a level 5 (Accident With Wider Consequences) on the International Nuclear Event Scale , while the events at reactor 4 were placed at level 3 (Serious Incident). The situation as a whole was rated as level 7 (Major Accident). On 20 March, Japan's chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano "confirmed for

5964-528: The projects either acquiring the greenhouse gases emission reductions (hard greening) or building up the necessary framework for this process (soft greening). Latvia was one of the front-runners of GISs. World Bank (2011) reported that Latvia has stopped offering AAU sales because of low AAU prices. In 2010, Estonia was the preferred source for AAU buyers, followed by the Czech Republic and Poland. Japan's national policy to meet their Kyoto target includes

6048-676: The protocol, effective December 2012) to the Protocol in 2020. The Kyoto Protocol implemented the objective of the UNFCCC to reduce the onset of global warming by reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere to "a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system" (Article 2). The Kyoto Protocol applied to the seven greenhouse gases listed in Annex A: carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) , methane (CH 4 ) , nitrous oxide (N 2 O) , hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF 6 ) , nitrogen trifluoride (NF 3 ) . Nitrogen trifluoride

6132-585: The purchase of AAUs sold under GISs. In 2010, Japan and Japanese firms were the main buyers of AAUs. In terms of the international carbon market, trade in AAUs are a small proportion of overall market value. In 2010, 97% of trade in the international carbon market was driven by the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS). Between 2001, which was the first year Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects could be registered, and 2012,

6216-501: The recovery period, the company had to expand its supply capacity to catch up with the country's rapid economic growth by developing fossil fuel power plants and a more efficient transmission network. In the 1960s and 1970s, the company faced the challenges of increased environmental pollution and oil shocks. TEPCO began addressing environmental concerns through expansion of its LNG fueled power plant network as well as greater reliance on nuclear power generation. The first nuclear unit at

6300-544: The remaining two were Tokyo Metropolitan Government and a group of TECPO employees. The largest shareholder was Japan Trustee Services Bank (4.47%). On 11 April 2012 TEPCO announced that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government had temporarily become the largest shareholder of the firm with 9.37 percent voting rights, after former largest share holders Dai-ichi Life Nippon Life Insurance Co. and Nippon Life Insurance Co. had sold their 3.42 and 3.29 percent stakes in

6384-462: The risk of a serious accident. He suggested that Japan's military assume primary responsibility. 'It's the same trade-off you have to make in war, and that is the sacrifice of a few for the safety of many,' he said. 'But a corporation just cannot do that.'" There has been considerable criticism to the way TEPCO handled the crisis. It was reported that seawater was used only after Prime Minister Naoto Kan ordered it following an explosion at one reactor

6468-473: The second commitment period. Other developed countries without second-round targets were Canada (which withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in 2012) and the United States (which did not ratify). If they were to remain as a part of the protocol, Canada would be hit with a $ 14 billion fine, which would be devastating to their economy, hence the reluctant decision to exit. As of October 2020, 147 states had accepted

6552-527: The section below on the Green Investment Scheme ). The "Green Investment Scheme" (GIS) is a plan for achieving environmental benefits from trading surplus allowances (AAUs) under the Kyoto Protocol. The Green Investment Scheme (GIS), a mechanism in the framework of International Emissions Trading (IET), is designed to achieve greater flexibility in reaching the targets of the Kyoto Protocol while preserving environmental integrity of IET. However, using

6636-648: The shutdown of the Fukushima I and II plants which were close to the epicenter of the March 2011 earthquake. For example, on the morning of Tuesday, March 15, 2011, 700,000 households had no power for three hours. The company had to deal with a 10 million kW gap between demand and production on March 14, 2011. On August 29, 2002, the government of Japan revealed that TEPCO was guilty of false reporting in routine governmental inspection of its nuclear plants and systematic concealment of plant safety incidents. All seventeen of its boiling-water reactors were shut down for inspection as

6720-532: The stabilisation of the damaged reactors in Fukushima. All participation in a program to supply and run two nuclear reactors at a plant in Vietnam would be cancelled. This project undertaken by International Nuclear Energy Development, a public company set up in 2010 by heavy machinery producers and power companies, including TEPCO, aims to promote Japanese nuclear expertise and exports. According to Naomi Hirose, director of TEPCO, "Our atomic power engineers still need to do

6804-580: The trading that occurs as part of the EU ETS, no intergovernmental emissions trading had taken place. One of the environmental problems with IET is the large surplus of allowances that are available. Russia, Ukraine, and the new EU-12 member states (the Kyoto Parties Annex I Economies-in-Transition, abbreviated "EIT": Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine) have

6888-594: The use of the flexibility mechanisms. The CDM and JI are called "project-based mechanisms", in that they generate emission reductions from projects. The difference between IET and the project-based mechanisms is that IET is based on the setting of a quantitative restriction of emissions, while the CDM and JI are based on the idea of "production" of emission reductions. The CDM is designed to encourage production of emission reductions in non-Annex I Parties, while JI encourages production of emission reductions in Annex I Parties. The production of emission reductions generated by

6972-483: Was added for the second compliance period during the Doha Round. The Protocol was based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities: it acknowledged that individual countries have different capabilities in combating climate change, owing to economic development , and therefore placed the obligation to reduce current emissions on developed countries on the basis that they are historically responsible for

7056-445: Was the site of one of the world's most serious ongoing nuclear disasters, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster . TEPCO could face ¥2 trillion (US$ 23.6 billion) in special losses in the current business year to March 2012, and the Japanese government plans to put TEPCO under effective state control to guarantee compensation payments to the people affected by the accident. The Fukushima disaster displaced 50,000 households in

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