Japan implores citizens to band together to combat the national energy shortage.
On Thursday, Japan debuted its ‘warmbiz’ energy-saving campaign, encouraging people to take energy measures during colder months. After 2011’s Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster, Japan is facing a significant nation-wide energy shortage, and all but two nuclear reactors are idle.
Until the tsunami damage at Fukushima, the resource-poor country relied on nuclear energy for one third of all electricity. Public nervousness about the safety of the shut-down reactors means authorities are unwilling green light reactor restart, making Japan even more heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels. Large-scale energy saving measures is one way to combat higher fossil fuel consumption.
The ‘warmbiz’ campaign comes on the heels of Japan’s successful ‘coolbiz’ campaign. To combat the energy shortage, Japanese citizens are being given tips to combat the cold such as eating hot food to raise body temperature, setting heaters to 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit), wearing warm clothes, using hot water bottles, and closing curtains to keep warm air in homes.
The campaign stresses the necessity of public involvement and individual responsibility in lowering energy consumption to combat the country-wide energy shortage.
[via PhysOrg]
