Japan's energy crisis also an opportunity

The March 11 earthquake and ensuing nuclear crisis in Japan has given rise to a strong anti-nuclear sentiment in the country, which is understandable given the scale of the tragedy and its lingering effects. But the tricky part is finding a better way to meet the country’s energy needs.

“The next best or worst choice is coal, oil and LNG liquefied natural gas to fill in the gap of all the nuclear stoppages in Japan,” said Lalita Gupta, an energy analyst at Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities in Tokyo, in a telephone interview.

The difficulty is that coal and oil also come with their own emissions problems, Gupta pointed out, and that...