Abstract
Immediately after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2011, the necessity of increasing the power supply using renewable energy was widely discussed in Japan. Small-scale geothermal power generating facilities with ≦2000 kW capacity were assessed as a renewable energy resource. In Beppu-Onsen hot spring, where high temperature hot springs discharge through a wide area, small-scale geothermal power generation started as early as 2013. This report describes difficulties faced by power generating facility operators as well as countermeasures taken by the local governments of Oita Prefecture and Beppu CitTy, and by scientists. The author’s ideas related to future conservation of geothermal and hot spring resources in Beppu are also presented.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to express my appreciation for support received from the RIHN project: Human-Environmental Security in Asia-Pacific Ring of Fire: Water-Energy-Food Nexus and the project members. I received valuable technical support from Mr. Taketoshi Mishima (Kyoto University). Discussions with Prof. Makoto Taniguchi (Research Institute for Humanity and Nature), Dr. Masahiko Fujii (Hokkaido University), and Prof. Keiji Takemura (Kyoto University) have been meaningful and useful.
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Ohsawa, S. (2018). Serious Matters Related to Development of Small-scale Geothermal Power Generation in Beppu-Onsen Hot Spring After 2011. In: Endo, A., Oh, T. (eds) The Water-Energy-Food Nexus. Global Environmental Studies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7383-0_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7383-0_15
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