japanese power market another article i thought you might find interesting . regards , eugenio review of energy policies kicks off asahi shimbun april 25 , 2000 a government advisory panel on monday embarked on a comprehensive review of energy - related policies . ` ` we want to come up with feasible policies and at the same time clearly present reasons for those policies , ' ' yoichi kaya , a professor emeritus at the university of tokyo , told a meeting of the coordination subcommittee under the advisory committee for energy , an advisory panel to minister of international trade and industry takashi fukaya . kaya chairs the subcommittee . the nuclear development policy , including the government ' s goal for building new nuclear power plants , is expected to be a focus of the discussions . a spate of nuclear accidents have made construction of plants increasingly difficult , and the nation ' s power suppliers have reduced the number of new nuclear power plants expected to be in operation by fiscal 2010 from 20 to 13 . the subcommittee , set up for the first time in about 10 years , is made up of about 30 members , and members of anti - nuclear nongovernmental organizations have been included for the first time . some members told monday ' s meeting that the government must stop taking the nuclear development policy for granted and seriously look into the possibility of introducing renewable energy , such as wind and solar power . also on the agenda will be energy saving measures . energy consumption in the residential and commercial sector , made up of homes and offices , and in the transportation sector , which includes cars and trucks , has almost doubled over the past 25 years . at monday ' s meeting , many members stressed the need to change public consciousness toward the use of energy . miti plans to present studies on how life would be affected by compulsory energy saving measures such as automatically turning off air conditioners at certain temperatures or vehicle engines when they are idle .