[Reuters, Bloomberg; 12 November] Preliminary figures from Japan's Ministry of the Environment indicate that the country's emissions of greenhouse gases increased 2.3% to 1.371 billion tonnes CO2 equivalent in the year ended March 2008. The increase follows a drop of 1.3% in the previous year. The ministry said that "among the reasons behind the increase of emissions is falling utilization rates of Japan's nuclear power plants that's prompting utilities to boost usage of thermal generators." All seven reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Co's (Tepco's) Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plants have remained offline since the plant was struck by an earthquake in July 2007. Japan's electric power industry has pledged to cut CO2 emissions to an average of 0.34 kg per kilowatt-hour per year up to 2012. However, in the year to March, this figure stood at 0.453 kg due to the closure of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. Japan, a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, has a target of cutting its emissions by 6% from 1990 levels by 2012.