Japan's CO2 emissions hit second-highest on record

[WorldNews]

Japan's greenhouse-gas emissions rose to the second-highest on record in the year ended March 2014, revised government figures showed on Tuesday, reflecting a rise in coal-fired power after the indefinite closure of nuclear power plants. Emissions rose 1.2 percent to 1.408 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent from a year earlier, according to the revised data published by the Ministry of Environment. All of Japan's 48 nuclear reactors have been shut down since September 2013, amid rigorous safety checks required after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami wrecked the Fukushima plant northeast of Tokyo. Nuclear power had accounted for 26 percent of Japan's electricity generation.

 

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