Japan to turn 1.3 million acres of waste farmland into solar farms

Japan has loads of space to spare, particularly unused rice paddies, and for a country that’s currently facing several electricity blackouts after the devastating natural calamities and the nuclear power plant meltdown; this seems to be an open invitation to go green! And that’s exactly what Softbank Corporation President Masayoshi Son plans to do, putting to use 1.3 million acres of unused rice paddies and turning them into solar farms instead. All this could result in the generation of a sweet 50 million kilowatts, and 35 of Japan’s 47 prefectures have already expressed interest in the plan.

This seems to be a win-win plan for the land of the rising sun after all, given that these unused land spaces will be put to the use of the greater good.
[Inhabitat]