Alternative Power From the Sea

This report, dated August 24, comes from the website Web-Japan.org.

Japan as a nation has comparatively few natural resources. It imports much - if not most - of it's oil from overseas. It is also on the cutting edge in research for alternative energy.

So a group of scientists are developing a fermentation process that can use shore-dredged seaweed as fuel for electricity. The project's goal is to have the world's first seaweed-run power plant in operation by the middle of 2007.

Distributism encourages self-sufficiency as much as local circumstances and resources allow. Research such as this can only help Japan to reduce dependence on foreign oil. True, it is only one part of a total energy mix, but any progress in this area is to be encouraged. We can only hope that such power plants will remain de-centralized in ownership and management, so as to conform to the Distributist milieu.