An insight into Japan’s new energy strategy

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This post was last edited by Standing in the East on 2012-4-12 07:48. An Insight into Japan’s New Energy Strategy: As the world’s second-largest economy, Japan is one of the world’s major energy consumers, and it relies heavily on imported energy. However, in recent years, Japan’s energy-saving technologies have led to a significant improvement in energy utilization efficiency. The development and utilization of new energy sources have shown a positive trend, with their use increasing rapidly, which has enhanced Japan’s economic resilience and reduced its dependence on traditional energy sources. Some Japanese companies in the new energy sector are beginning to show signs of expanding overseas, and some Japanese experts even argue that it is no longer a dream for Japan to transform from a major energy importer into a major energy exporter... The use of new energy sources in Japan is becoming increasingly widespread. Thanks to continuous technological advancements, Japan’s share in the new energy market is constantly growing, with all types of new energy sources seeing rapid expansion. In the field of solar energy utilization, the average annual growth rate of photovoltaic rooftop systems among Japanese residents has been extremely rapid over the past 5 years; production capacity increased by 47% in 2002 and by 45% in 2003. By the end of 2003, a total of 887,000 kilowatts of capacity had been installed, and this figure rose to 1,132,000 kilowatts in 2004. Japan plans to install a total of 4,820,000 kilowatts by 2010, which is more than three times the amount installed in 2004. Japan has also achieved remarkable results in the field of wind power generation. In 2002, Japan’s wind power generation capacity was 460,000 kilowatts; it rose to 730,000 kilowatts in 2003 and reached 1 million kilowatts in 2004. Reputable Japanese experts predict that by 2010, the country’s wind power generation capacity will reach 3 million kilowatts. Regarding new energy and environmentally friendly vehicles, officials from Japan’s Ministry of Transport and the Environment announced that Japan will strive to increase the use of low-pollution vehicles, with plans to raise the number of hybrid vehicles and fuel cell vehicles from the current level of over 600,000 to 10 million by 2010. Japan has also officially introduced a new strategy for creating new industries, giving fuel cells a crucial role in this strategy. Figures from Japan’s Energy Agency show that in 2004, the capacity of fuel cells in Japan was equivalent to 10,000 kilowatts, and by 2010 this figure was expected to rise sharply to 2.2 million kilowatts. Experts estimate that by 2010, the market size for fuel cells will be around 1 trillion yen, and it is expected to increase by 8 times by 2020, reaching 8 trillion yen. Due to the exponential growth in new energy sources in Japan, the country has set a goal of reducing its dependence on oil from the current 50% to 40% by 2030, while the share of new energy sources is expected to continue increasing. Japanese companies are accelerating their efforts to capture the global new energy market. After years of development, solar energy has gradually become widespread in Japan. Since 2000, solar photovoltaic power generation and the production of solar cells have ranked first in the world for many years, accounting for about half of the world’s total output. Beyond the solar cell sector, Japanese companies are also making moves in global wind energy markets, geothermal resources markets, nuclear power markets, fuel cells, and other fields. Companies such as Panasonic have introduced household fuel cells; 11 wind turbines in Tagawa Town, Yamagata Prefecture, generate 60% of the town’s electricity demand, and Iwate Prefecture has built Japan’s first cow manure power plant. Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is building the country’s largest plant for generating electricity from organic waste. The plant is designed to handle 110 tons of waste per day, which corresponds to the amount of organic waste produced by 730,000 people; the electricity generated from this waste can supply 2,420 households. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the leading Japanese wind turbine manufacturer, has intensified its market efforts in the United States this year; it is reported that in May of this year it received orders for 788 large-scale wind turbines from 5 American wind power companies. This will be Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ largest order for wind power equipment to date, with the total value estimated to exceed 160 billion yen. In addition, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries also plans to enter the European market by leveraging its world’s largest wind turbine, a marine model that can be installed in waters up to 30 meters deep; one such turbine is sufficient to meet the electricity needs of 4,000 households. This year, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries also entered the Chinese wind power market for the first time. The company has currently reached an agreement with Wuzhong Instrument Company, which is part of Ningxia Power Generation Group, regarding the provision of manufacturing technology for medium-sized wind power equipment. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries plans to raise its sales volume in 2008 to around 150 billion yen and expand its global market share to five times the current level, in order to capture a 10% share of the global wind power generation market. Additionally, according to Japanese media reports, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries received orders for two nuclear reactors in the United States in March this year; the value of these orders is estimated to be 600 billion yen, and these reactors are set to come online in 2015. It is reported that this is the first order received by a Japanese company following the resumption of nuclear power construction projects in the United States after about 30 years; it represents the first export of a reactor developed in Japan to overseas markets. In addition, Japanese company Kobe Steel Electric has partnered with an Indian manufacturer of environmental protection equipment to jointly explore the local wind resources for wind power generation systems. Kyushu Electric Power of Japan and Sumitomo Corporation have signed a feasibility study agreement with a Chinese group company in Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia, where wind resources are abundant, regarding the development of wind power generation activities there. In the northern part of Sumatra in Indonesia, which is rich in geothermal resources, Japanese company Mitsui & Co., along with Indonesian companies such as Pertamina and Energy International, will jointly build the world’s largest group of geothermal power plants here. The total generating capacity of these plants will be around 330 megawatts. Construction of the first power plant is set to begin in 2007, with completion expected by 2009. In February of this year, Japanese company Sumitomo Corporation also received a large order worth 14 billion yen for the development of geothermal resources in Indonesia. The main features of Japan’s new energy strategy: Looking at Japan’s key measures and approaches in developing new energy, there are mainly the following two characteristics. First, after the oil crisis of the 1970s dealt a severe blow to the Japanese economy, there arose a strong sense of crisis regarding energy security throughout Japan. Against this backdrop, Japan **launched the Energy Sunshine Plan**, pursuing a strategy for new energy over three decades to ensure strategic foresight and gain an early advantage. In 1974, Japan introduced a plan for the development of new energy technologies; subsequently, in 1978 and 1989, it introduced the \"Energy Conservation Technology Development Plan\" and the \"Environmental Protection Technology Development Plan\" respectively. In 1993, Japan **merged the above three programs into a large-scale \"New Sunshine Plan\". "The main purpose of the New Sunshine Plan is to, under **leadership**, adopt a collaborative approach involving **governments**, enterprises, and universities in order to work together to overcome the various challenges encountered in energy development. "The guiding principle of the New Sunshine Plan is to achieve a balance among economic growth, energy supply, and environmental protection. "The main research areas of the New Sunshine Plan can be roughly divided into seven categories, namely renewable energy technologies, fossil fuel application technologies, energy transmission and storage technologies, systematization technologies, basic energy-saving technologies, efficient and innovative energy technologies, and environmental technologies. Research on renewable energy technologies includes solar energy, wind energy, thermoelectric generation, bioenergy, and geothermal utilization technologies, among which solar energy receives the most attention. Judging from the current results, after years of development, solar energy research in Japan has reached the highest level in the world. Between 1997 and 2004, the adoption of solar energy in Japan maintained a growth rate of 90%. In the field of research on ultra-high-efficiency solar cells, Japan has reached a world-leading level by achieving crystal formation on germanium and silicon wafers, resulting in energy conversion efficiencies of around 31% and 18% per square centimeter for single-crystal materials respectively. Second, after implementing the new energy strategy, Japan **established a series of measures such as incentive-based, policy-driven, and price-based approaches to ensure that the strategy is put into practice at the \"tactical\" level. (1) Incentive-oriented approach: It is understood that to ensure the smooth implementation of the \"New Sunshine Plan,\" Japan allocates over 57 billion yen per year to this program, of which approximately 36.2 billion yen is used for the development of new energy technologies. Between 1997 and 2004, Japan provided 123 billion yen in subsidies for solar panel installation projects on residential rooftops. Thanks to **full support and substantial investment of private funds** in the \"Sunshine Plan\" project, Japan’s solar power industry quickly rose to become a world leader. (2) Policy and regulatory guidance: In the past, Japan generated 91 million tons of livestock waste and 20 million tons of food waste each year, placing a heavy burden on the environment. According to relevant laws, open dumping of livestock waste was prohibited by November 2004, and by 2006, companies that produced fresh food waste were required to reduce such waste by 20%; at the same time, they were obligated to recycle the waste they generated. Driven by the \"red lines\" set by policies and regulations, bioelectric power generation has quietly emerged in Japan. (3) Price orientation: During the implementation of the \"Sunshine Plan,\" Japan **placed emphasis on developing the new energy market, implementing direct subsidy policies for consumers of new energy. When solar power generation first emerged in Japan, the cost was extremely high due to the small number of users; a power generation device with a capacity of 3000 watts cost around 6 million yen, an amount that would be sufficient to cover electricity costs for several decades. However, Japan is highly determined to promote solar power generation; it offers subsidies for solar panels in each household, as a result of which more and more households use such panels, and market prices have dropped significantly. This has led to a positive cycle in the new energy market. However, according to officials from Japan’s private think tank, the Environment and Energy Policy Institute, since the Japanese government abolished the subsidies related to solar power generation in 2005, there has been a clear decline in the growth of solar power generation in Japan. Coupled with Germany’s rapid progress in this field, Japan has been overtaken by Germany for two consecutive years, with the gap between the two countries widening; in 2006, Germany’s solar power generation was nearly twice that of Japan. As a result, Japanese solar power companies have expressed criticism toward the Japanese government for **canceling the solar subsidy policy too early**. Therefore, in order to improve to some extent the situation in Japan where solar power generation lags behind that in Germany, Japan is likely to maintain its subsidy policies for solar power generation at the local level for some time longer. Currently, various related industries are emerging around Japan’s new energy strategy. Each of these industries not only benefits from it but also serves as a key element in Japan’s overall new energy strategy. The implementation of a new energy strategy is of course of great significance for a country like Japan that lacks resources. Similarly, for a developing country like ours with a population of 1.3 billion, its significance is self-evident; Japan’s national approach to tackling challenges together is one that deserves our careful study and emulation. (Source ； China Energy Network)