Nissan Leaf-Owning Actor: Electricity Good, Nuclear... Not So Much
Nissan Leaf, Solar-Canopy Charging Station In New SIMS Game
The Nissan Leaf is no stranger to videogames. Last year, we had a little race between a Leaf and... Read More
- #6LEADERBOARD RANK
- 1818ARTICLES CONTRIBUTED
- 4COMMENTS POSTED
Also See
-
2013 Nissan Leaf Electric Car Revealed In...
-
2013 Nissan Leaf Prices To Start At $28,800 For...
-
Nissan CEO Talks Electric Car Sales And Chinese...
See more video »
2011's earthquake and tsunami in Japan brought energy use into sharp focus.
Such events frequently cause grids to fail, but it was the inundation and subsequent meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear facility that garnered the most attention, and the disaster has turned the public strongly against nuclear power in the country.
With the release of a Japanese film inspired by the events in 2011, lead actor Isao Natsuyagi took the time to comment on nuclear energy--while picking up the keys to his own Nissan Leaf electric car.
In the film, Isao-san is a dairy farmer in a fictional prefecture of Japan, when an earthquake triggers a nuclear meltdown like that at Fukushima--near to his character's home.
Natsuyagi says he's quite similar to the character he portrays, believing energy discussion highly important.
“We humans need to think about what kind of energy we need to use in order to survive", he says, adding, "we are not the only ones who need to survive. We live today thanks to the environment including all the other animals and plants. That is why it is very important to think about energy because it affects them, too.”
Some have worried that the nuclear disaster would actually turn Japanese customers off electric cars before the market had even started--the country previously generated 30 percent its power from nuclear sources.
Now, many of the country's plants have been suspended, decomissioned or shut down. Japan is in the midst of debate on whether to phase out nuclear power completely.
Natsuyagi's words are pertinent given his new Leaf--he'll be hoping, along with much of Japan, that there's a better way to power it in future than on nuclear-generated electricity.
+++++++++++
Follow GreenCarReports on Facebook and Twitter.
Related Articles
-
Sim-CEL Electric Concept Quicker Than Slug-Like Looks Suggest
-
Why One-Third Of Electric-Car Buyers Might Not Buy Another
-
Japan's Electric Taxis Falling Out Of Favor With Drivers
-
Tesla Model S To Have CHAdeMO Quick-Charge Adaptor In Japan
-
Follow Us
On Facebook
Most Popular This Week
More »
Can Tesla Raise More Than $1 Billion On Soaring Stock Price? 
Audi Startled By Tesla Sales Success? Deleted Press Release... 
Four Used Plug-In Electric Cars To Avoid 
How Are Electric-Car Batteries Made? Photos From Nissan's New... 
Toyota Accelerates Switch To Lithium-Ion Batteries, Still Lags... Find Green Cars
Photo Galleries
More from High Gear Media
- Follow Us
Have an opinion?
We need to change our mind set. There is plenty of power from the sun and wind. Imagine if home builders are asked to provide potential buyers the option of upgrading their cabinets, floors, and, by the way, “would you like solar panels incorporated into your roof structure?” Hell yeah! The cost can be rolled into the mortgage and increase the value of the house.
Liquid Flouride Thorium Reactors do not produce long term radio-active waste, run on cheap thorium, and are inherently safe.
See: http://flibe-energy.com/attributes/
A tsunami that kills over 10,000 and destroys entire cities and towns is not mentioned, while a nuclear accident that kills nobody, and results in a "slight injury" to several plant workers is a "disaster." Japan now pays a whole lot more for electricity and is burning fossil fuels by the hundreds of thousands of tons. They have now rejected the emissions agreements they signed a few years ago and their emissions will not only not be reduced, but will be increased dramatically unless they restart their nuclear plants. There are now signs however, that a more rational approach is being talked about.
Opposition to nuclear power is always based on fear and ignorance. Always.
I own a Leaf, and where I live, unfortunately, it's fueled primarily by coal, I'd love for it to be fueled by nuclear energy instead, as carbon emissions are a much greater danger to the planet than spent nuclear fuel is. And, given the choice, I'd much rather live within 2 miles of 2 nuclear plants, (especially modern reactor designs) than within 2 miles of 2 coal plants like I do now. Nuclear waste is containable, coal plant pollution and carbon is not.
The American Lung Association says coal power kills 13,000 people/year. How many does nuclear power kill?
I understand about the radiation factor but the ones at fault here where the builders of the plants themselves. On a rock face in Fukashima there is an inscription dating a couple of hundred years ago showing how high the water level rose during a Tsunami. If the nuclear company that build the plants would have paid attention they should have build the reactors much higher to avoid such a recorded Tsunami wave height.... And now you have nuclear meltdown form something that could have been avoided.
Japan's topography isn't ideal for building complicated things like nuclear plants on higher ground, and I doubt placing it where they did was a decision taken lightly.
This article overlooks the roll the electric LEAF played in helping with cleanup & recovery from 2011 tsunami & related events. As part of cleanup Nissan provided a fleet of LEAFs to bring power to where it was no longer. Key to providing the power was the LEAF-to-Home system: ev2.nissan.co.jp/LEAFTOHOME/
Many LEAF owners in Japan have installed the LEAF-to-Home systems to draw grid power at night, & power home in peak times when electricity was constrained (eg: rolling blackouts). Beyond emergencies, another advantage is caching cheaper off-peak electricity to power home when electricity is higher priced.
Have an opinion?Join the conversation!