Japan on gas, coal power building spree to fill nuclear void

[NickB79]

11. So, the solution is...more coal-fired plants?

If nuclear isn't compatible with renewables, the Japanese think that adding more coal-fired plants that function essentially the same will be better somehow?

Also,

Nuclear isn't at all compatible with renewables. It isn't flexible enough. The variability of renewables isn't a problem at all in a properly designed system. But, nuclear isn't part of a system properly designed for renewables, they are part of a system designed for coal.

It sounds like you're saying we can't build a renewables-based system unless we shut down all of a nation's nuclear reactors first, which is ridiculous. The US has been adding gobs of renewables while running almost 100 reactors simultaneously. And we've been doing exactly what phantom power suggested: closing nuclear reactors as they become uneconomical due to renewables and conservation undercutting their profits: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/24/us-nuclear-power-closures

The Japanese decided to go another way, and in the process their GHG emissions have skyrocketed.