Golf's loss may be Japan's new energy source.
Due to a 40 percent decline in golf activities, abandoned golf courses in the East Asian country is on the increase, and thus giving a possible new avenue for Japan's continued search for safe and renewable energy sources. This is also after the Japanese public has announced distrust of nuclear energy, following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in the northern towns of Okuma and Futaba which was caused by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, reports Curbed.
Kyocera, a multinational electronics company, unveiled a plan to build a 23-megawatt solar plant project in an abandoned golf course in Kyoto prefecture, a few months after announcing a 92-megawatt solar farm project in a huge property in Kagoshima prefecture, which has been reserved for a golf course in the early 1980s.
Quartz reported that the Kagoshima project is expected to power 30,500 households, while the Kyoto project will power 8,100 houses. These projects will be finished by 2018 at the latest.
Another firm, Pacifico Energy and GE Energy Financial Services, is also building a 42-megawatt solar plant in an old golf course in the Okayama prefecture.
These projects are in accordance with Japan's green energy strategy, as the country is aiming to double the amount of renewable energy sources by 2030. Kyocera, as its leading builder of solar energy plants, is also eyeing the completion of its project that consists of floating power plants. The floating solar plant project in Hyogo prefecture will produce 2,680 megawatts per year, a volume that will be enough for 820 typical households.
According to a report by Japan Times, the solar station measures 1,093 feet by 253 feet, and the energy it produces will be distributed to Kansai Electric Power located in Osaka. The station generates an annual cost of $780,000. Construction was finished in May 2015 and operations have already begun. Even larger floating solar installations will be built in the Yamakura Dam reservoir in Chiba prefecture by March 2016.
Similar projects are in motion in the United States, especially in New York and Minnesota.
