Will Renewable Energy Get Us Out Of The Recession?

nikkei recession poll japan image
From Nikkei BP

Nikkei Business Publications recently announced the results of a survey conducted with engineers in Japan's manufacturing industry on the current global recession. They were asked hard questions about the impact of the recession and measures to cope with it. I am a little surprised that they turn out to be such tree-huggers: an overwhelming number thinks solar cells, electric, fuel-cell and hybrid vehicles - and even wind power - could provide the breakthroughs we need to get out of the current recession.

aist solar power tokyo japan photo
Photo: Flexible solar cells by AIST

The survey results showed strong confidence of frontline design and manufacturing engineers in Japan's solid industrial infrastructure and high-level technology, notes Nikkei BP:

A key to break through the recession is development of 1) solar cell, 2) electric vehicle, and 3) agriculture / food, in descending order.

The respondents were also surprisingly positive when it came to which country would be first to recover from the recession: 26.7% of the engineers thought Japan would be first, followed by Europe (15.4%), China (14.1%) and the United States (12.8%). Over 1,300 engineers replied to the survey, conducted in December 2008 and January 2009.

More Solar in Japan:
Japan To Subsidize Solar Panels For Your House
Solar Cell Expo Opens In Tokyo
Japan's First Solar Powered Condo
Japanese Solar Photovoltaic Market Grows 40+%/Year

Brought to you by Martin Frid at greenz.jp