Crisis-hit Japan mulls shift to renewable energy

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In this Wednesday, May 2, 2012 photo, solar panels cover the 11-hectare compound of the Ukishima Solar Power Station in Kawasaki near Tokyo. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

Updated: Thu May. 03 2012 05:07:32

The Associated Press

TOKYO — Another long, stupefyingly hot summer is looming for Japan just as it shuts down its last operating nuclear power reactor, worsening a squeeze on electricity and adding urgency to calls for a green energy revolution.

On Saturday, the last of the country's 50 usable nuclear reactors will be switched off, completely idling a power source that once supplied a third of Japan's electricity. At a time when temptation to set the aircon to deep freeze is at its greatest, companies and ordinary Japanese will be obliged to economize amid temperatures that can climb above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).