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New houses in Tokyo will have solar panels from 2025 as part of Japan’s effort to cut dependence on coal electricity following the Fukushima disaster.

All new houses in Tokyo built by large-scale homebuilders after April 2025 will have to include solar panels to cut household carbon emissions. 

The new regulation was passed by the Japanese capital’s local assembly. 

About 50 major builders are required to equip homes of up to 2,000 square meters with renewable energy power sources, mostly solar panels. 

CNN reports that Tokyo Governor Yuroko Koike revealed that just 4% of buildings in the city where solar panels can be installed have them now.
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“In addition to the existing global climate crisis, we face an energy crisis with a prolonged Russia-Ukraine war,” Risako Narikiyo, a member of Koike’s regional party Tomin First no Kai, said at the assembly Thursday. “There is no time to waste.”

Japan is the world’s fifth largest carbon emitter. The country has committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 but faces challenges as it has relied heavily on coal for its power, after most of its nuclear reactors were closed in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima disaster. 

Nikola, an electrical engineer, simplifies intricate sustainability subjects for his audience. A staunch environmental conservationist, he embodies his beliefs daily through recycling and cultivating his own food.

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