Wind farms in contested landscapes: Procedural and scale gaps of wind power facility constructions in Japan

Satomi Kohyama, Ryo Kohsaka*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

The legal system for renewable energy in Japan, Feed-in Tariff system, was deregulated in 2021 by the central government to reflect the international calls to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, this sudden change has raised concerns about social, environmental, and long-term economic sustainability. Thus, we conducted a state-of-the-art review of legal and policy frameworks of wind power projects in Japan and discussed the multi-layered structure at national- and municipal-level ordinances. By doing so, several gaps are highlighted. First, there are procedural gaps that business operators can de facto bypass by checking the environmental procedures. Second, there are issues at the scale (national or local), where the decisions are met. For example, while the overall framework is decided at the national level, the most contentious issues of the location of wind power facilities are left at the local level, where residents, municipalities, and developers are burdened to solve these issues. Third, in the current legal system, environmental impacts on popular natural landscapes are not taken into consideration. In the face of deregulation and concerns about multiple factors, there has been an increase in the number of municipalities opposing the construction of wind farms. Finally, existing legal cases related to wind power projects are provided to illustrate changes and disputes at different sites across Japan. These cases demonstrated how landscape elements (e.g. biodiversity) can be vital for wind power project development in Japan.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1396-1415
Number of pages20
JournalEnergy and Environment
Volume35
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2024/05

Keywords

  • Japan
  • environmental impacts
  • landscape
  • legal systems
  • wind power

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Environmental Engineering
  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Energy (miscellaneous)

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