Pursuit of solar power, bioenergy and other clean energy sources will be a key pillar of the government's reconstruction strategy to be drawn up for areas hit by a massive quake and tsunami following the country's worst nuclear accident, top government spokesman Yukio Edano said Tuesday.

After the March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, resulting in the nuclear crisis, the government has faced growing calls to review its policy of pursuing nuclear power. It is now working out a basic program on post-quake and post-tsunami reconstruction efforts to be unveiled in mid-April, government sources said.

Ten years ago, Japan was the unquestioned leader in photovoltaics worldwide. But while Germany, Spain, Italy (and producers in China, Taiwan) surged ahead, the Japanese effort faltered due to lack of serious new promotion policies. In the last two years, the market doubled twice, but that only got it into the one gigawatt region. Replacing the six Fukushima reactors in a few years would need new installations of solar at rates like in Germany and wind in the multi-gigawatts, too.

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}