（社説）再エネと地域 「主権」育てる好機に

EDITORIAL: Renewable energy promotion a good opportunity to nurture local ‘sovereignty’
（社説）再エネと地域　「主権」育てる好機に

A recent survey jointly conducted by The Asahi Shimbun and Hitotsubashi University has found that 80 percent of municipalities throughout the country that responded to the questionnaire are willing to promote renewable energies for regional development.
　朝日新聞と一橋大学が共同で実施したアンケートで、回答した全国の自治体の８割が再生可能エネルギーの推進に意欲的で、地域振興に役立てようとしていることがわかった。

More than three years have passed since the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. During the period, the local governments have been “deepening” their efforts from moves to review power sources to attempts to reconstruct their areas by themselves.
　福島第一原発の事故から３年以上。発電の方法を見直す動きから、地域を自分たちの手で再構築する試みへと深化しつつある様子がうかがえる。

For example, some municipalities are using the revenue earned from the sale of electricity to electric power companies to operate welfare facilities. Others are increasing local employment by setting up companies to maintain power generation facilities. The number of power plants established by collecting funds from citizens and others in their local areas apparently exceeds 500.
　例えば、電力会社に電気を売って得た収益を福祉施設の運営に回したり、発電設備を維持し保守する会社をつくって雇用創出につなげたり。地域で資金を募って設立する市民共同型の発電所も増え、５００を超える勢いだ。

If electricity sales are liberalized in the future, consumers will be able to choose their electric power company or sources of the electricity when they purchase it. To prepare for such a time, some producers in the agricultural, fishery or forestry industries are considering selling electricity directly to consumers in distant areas along with their products.
　いずれ電力が自由化されれば、電力会社や電源を選んで電気を買えるようになる。そんな将来をにらんで、農業や漁業、林業の生産者が遠隔地の消費者とつながり、直売する地場産品の中に、電気も組み込もうという構想も生まれている。

There are also some moves that go beyond conventional economic activities.
　経済活動の枠組みには収まりきらない動きも現れている。

In Minami-Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, which was affected by the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, an organization is operating not only a solar power plant but also a vegetable farm using electricity from the plant. In addition, it is offering learning opportunities to children in those facilities.
　原発被災地となった福島県南相馬市では、太陽光発電所とそこでできた電力を使った植物工場を運営しながら、子どもたちが体験学習できる場がある。

The organization’s representative director, Eiju Hangai, is a former director of Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. Minami-Soma is his hometown. Reflecting on the nuclear accident, he started the project. His purpose is to nurture people who think and act for themselves through learning of the mechanism of electricity and how to use it.
　代表理事の半谷栄寿さんは地元出身で東京電力の元役員。事故の反省から事業を起こした。目標とするのは電気の仕組みや活用法の学習を通じて「自分で考え行動する」人材を育てることだという。

So far, the development of electricity sources has tended to separate “people who generate electricity” from “those who use it.” In particular, nuclear power has been generated for urban areas where large amounts of electricity are consumed. Places that can serve as good locations to host nuclear power plants have been limited. Therefore, municipalities that can receive benefits from those plants have also been limited.
　これまでの電源開発は「つくる人」と「使う人」が分かれがちだった。とりわけ原発は、大量に電力を消費する都会向けにつくられてきた。立地条件も限られ、恩恵を受ける「地元」も一部にとどまった。

As for regional development, local governments have so far asked big companies to set up factories in their areas or implemented public works projects with subsidies. One of the typical cases was to ask for construction of nuclear power plants.
　地域振興にしても、これまでは大企業を誘致したり補助金でハコモノをつくったりという他力本願型。その面でも原発誘致は典型だった。

Renewable energies have a technical problem from the standpoint of a stable electricity supply. The feed-in-tariff system, in which electric power companies have to buy electricity from renewable energy producers at fixed prices, also has a defect because consumers have to pay higher electricity rates unless costs to develop electricity sources decline.
　確かに、安定的な電力供給という面では、再生可能エネルギーに技術的な課題は残る。固定価格での買い取り制度も、電源の開発費用が下がらないと料金負担が大きくなる欠点がある。

In spite of that, renewable energies that can be obtained easily in local areas will become catalysts to nurture “sovereignty” in those areas by changing the traditional way of thinking.
　それでも、地域に普通にある資源をいかす再生可能エネルギーは、従来の発想を転換させて、地域に「主権」を育むきっかけになる。

If municipalities promote renewable energy projects, they will face various problems and differences of opinions among residents. How will they overcome those difficulties and obtain understanding from them? It will be testing sites for “small democracies.”
　自分たちで事業を進めれば難題や意見の相違にもぶつかる。どう乗り越え、いかに納得するか。小さな民主主義の実践が積み重なる。

A growing number of people are thinking about energies from the context of their areas and lives. We want to support such a move.
　自分たちの町や生活と関連づけてエネルギーをとらえる機運を歓迎したい。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 27