The advice comes after Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, confirmed at the recent G8 summit in France, that solar and other renewable energy sources would be more important to the future of Japan’s energy needs. Dubbed the Sunrise Program, it is aimed at adding renewable energy to the country’s core energy sources.

该计划旨在减少成本solar powergeneration to one-third of the current level by 2020 and one-sixth by 2030. Japan also hopes to installsolar panelson virtually all rooftops. In addition, the plan envisions the construction of large-scale offshore wind farms and the full-scale introduction of next-generation biomass fuels in the 2020s.

Commenting on Japan’s statement at the G8 summit, Danny Davis, CIPHE’s principal technical officer said:

“Whatever happens in Japan is likely to affect the UK industry. We’ll be keeping an eye on its initiatives and any technological improvements with a view to making them work for us too.

“There are huge improvements that could be made in the way we gather, store and use renewable energy. Japan is known for being a technologically progressive country and with its involvement I’d expect to see a lot of development taking place which should give a boost to the industry,” he added.

Renewable energies will become increasingly important to the UK’s plumbing and heating engineering industry, and initiatives such as The Green Deal will form part of the Government’s plan to encourage homeowners to embrace alternative energy sources. The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) has also been developed by theRenewable Energy Association (REA)to provide financial assistance to encourage homeowners, businesses and communities to switch to renewable heating technology.