As the world collectively holds its breath and watches the Japanese attempt to squelch one disaster after another at the Fukushima Nuclear plant the question that doesn't seem to get asked is, so how did alternative energies do during the unfathomable earthquake and tsunami in Japan?
According to Kelly Rigg at the Huffington Post, the Country's Wind Turbine farms survived consecutive natural disasters so well that the Japanese Government is asking that the operators of the facilities step up production to make up for the lost power supply left by nuclear plant failures around Japan's North Island.
Yes, you read that right.
Mr. Ueda confirms that most Japanese wind turbines are fully operational. Indeed, he says that electric companies have asked wind farm owners to step up operations as much as possible in order to make up for shortages in the eastern part of the country:
Eurus Energy Japan says that 174.9MW with eight wind farms (64% of their total capacity with 11 wind farms in eastern part of Japan) are in operation now. The residual three wind farms (Kamaishi 42.9MW, Takinekoshirai 46MW, Satomi 10.02MW) are stopped due to the grid failure caused by the earthquake and Tsunami. Satomi is to re-start operations in a few days. Kamaishi is notorious for tsunami disaster, but this wind farm is safe because it is locate in the mountains about 900m high from sea level.
Battle-proof Wind Farms Survive Japan's Trial by Fire
And yet the wind turbines still stand. Now granted, yes the nuclear power plant withstood the 9.0 earthquake but it was the back up power that failed and that has led to this unfolding disaster, do you think we'd be saying the same thing about other alternative energy sources such as windpower and solar?
Just a thought. Diversifying our power grid, doing more than relying on one kind of alternative, especially one that if one thing fails can be so destructively harmful to the living things around it, gives me pause.