Kat’s Piece #10: The Future of Power

Japan's reliance on fossil fuels has grown since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. But one area stands in contrast: Fukushima itself. It aims to be fueled entirely by renewable energy by 2040.

"This is for future generations," a local says.

Kat interviews a former farmer in Iitate village in Fukushima. He now leases his land to a solar power company, who has built solar panels on it. The clean-up efforts in the area involve scraping all the topsoil from the land, which has rendered most farmland relatively useless. Here, he’s showing us what the land around him used to look like. Photo Credit: Claire Harbage/NPR