Climate Transition Development Corporation (CTD) announced the launch of its Green Snow project in Japan in cooperation with its development partners, Santa Monica, California based green infrastructure and technology firm, TerraScale Inc. and Japanese company, Global Family. This groundbreaking initiative in geothermal energy development comes shortly after TerraScale’s recent press release announcing the acquisition of 113 acres of land in Northern Japan for the Green Snow project.
CTD is functioning as program manager of Green Snow and owner-operator of the land. Through this project, CTD and its partners seek to be leaders in Japan-United States cooperation towards geothermal development in Japan.
As announced on April 15, 2023, Japan and the United States agreed to cooperate on developing geothermal energy in Japan during a meeting of the Group of Seven energy and environment ministers in Hokkaido. A memorandum of commitment was signed by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Yasutoshi Nishimura. The pact recognizes geothermal energy as a renewable energy technology that both countries can work together to advance.
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The agreement calls for collaboration in research and development, exchange of information, and pursuit of geothermal projects in the US, Japan, and other countries. The cooperation aims to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and cut carbon emissions contributing to climate change.
According to a January 9, 2023 joint statement between the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan and the United States Department of Energy on Cooperation toward Energy Security and Clean Energy Transitions, “The United States and Japan are committed to maintaining a rigorous and consistent regulatory environment for all energy sources, and endeavor to be responsive to all stakeholders, including enabling private sector investments.”
The Green Snow project will commence with a pilot geothermal project in Northern Japan. CTD partnered with sustainable developers TerraScale Inc. and Global Family to complete the project pre-development work and were solely responsible for the securing of the land acquisition.
The development of the Green Snow project is an important step towards Japan realizing its 2030 Climate Plan, which seeks to triple the country’s geothermal capacity by 2030. Currently, Japan’s geothermal capacity is underutilized, with small power plants accounting for less than 1% of its total power-generating capacity. Increased geothermal power production could enable Japan to provide 90% of its power generation from renewable sources, leading to a 92% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
SOURCE: PRWeb