Japan Nuclear Disaster --> Reinvigorate, Reenergize, Reexcite Non-Nuclear Fuels

Yesterday, I had a long post on reason for increased oil prices, suggesting that it was less Libya, and more Japan that was driving near-term increase in oil prices.

Well, today, that's the lead story over on Yahoo!Finance: Japan Fuel Demand To Surge

In my posting, I mentioned oil, natural gas, and coal, and was not sure whether to add coal, and definitely not sure about adding oil. But here it is, from the AP story:

Japan's nuclear crisis could reverberate through global energy markets for years to come, pushing up prices as suppliers look to take advantage of a surge in demand for non-nuclear fuels from the world's third-largest economy.

The 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that likely killed more than 18,000 people earlier this month shut down 11 of Japan's 54 nuclear power plants -- a source that provided 30 percent of the country's power. That means producers of natural gas, coal and oil -- particularly in Asia -- will be called on to help fuel conventional sources of power generation in Japan.

The irony: the Kyoto Protocol now seems to be an inconvenient fact of life.

Analysts expect the power plants affected by the earthquake/tsunami will be out of commission for three years, if not permanently. Does one really think the Japanese government will be able to convince their citizenry that nuclear plants are safe?