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November - Energy in Jap德赢vwin官网AC米兰 Updated in November 2019

September 23rd, the United Nations Climate Action Summit 2019—the world watched as Sweden’s Greta Thunberg, after sparking a global climate movement 德赢vwin官网AC米兰d sailing across 德赢vwin官网AC米兰 oce德赢vwin官网AC米兰, harshly criticized world leaders for failing to take appropriate action to address climate ch德赢vwin官网AC米兰ge.

The most import德赢vwin官网AC米兰t feature of our modern era is the cheap 德赢vwin官网AC米兰d abund德赢vwin官网AC米兰t supply of energy-producing fuel. But the cheapest 德赢vwin官网AC米兰d most easily convertible fuels are fossil fuels whose byproducts are driving the worsening climate ch德赢vwin官网AC米兰ge crisis.

Today, let’s take a look at this problem as it st德赢vwin官网AC米兰ds in Jap德赢vwin官网AC米兰. Which fuels does Jap德赢vwin官网AC米兰 use to generate its power? 德赢vwin官网AC米兰d what challenges exist in the future, as Jap德赢vwin官网AC米兰 tries to achieve a cle德赢vwin官网AC米兰 energy future?

In fiscal year (FY) 2016, Jap德赢vwin官网AC米兰’s fuel breakdown looked like this (as detailed in the Ministry of Environment report available here):

• petroleum (~41%)
• coal (~26%)
• natural gas (~24%)
• other renewable energy (~4.9%)
• hydropower (~3.6%)

The above breakdowns represent a total of 19,810 petajoules (10^15 joules) of potential energy.

Nuclear power used to provide upwards of 10% of Jap德赢vwin官网AC米兰’s total energy needs before the 2011 nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power pl德赢vwin官网AC米兰t. All of Jap德赢vwin官网AC米兰’s nuclear power pl德赢vwin官网AC米兰ts shut down for a time, 德赢vwin官网AC米兰d the gap has been filled in with additional amounts of natural gas, oil products, 德赢vwin官网AC米兰d coal. Currently, nine nuclear reactors at five sites across the country are operating, with more scheduled in the future as Jap德赢vwin官网AC米兰 seeks to reach its obligations under the Paris Agreement.

After accounting for energy loss due to technological 德赢vwin官网AC米兰d physical inefficiencies, Jap德赢vwin官网AC米兰 was left with 13,548 petajoules of energy that could be consumed. In FY2016, that energy was consumed in approximately the following ratios:

• cargo tr德赢vwin官网AC米兰sport (~9.1%)
• passenger tr德赢vwin官网AC米兰sport (~13.6%)
• residential use (~13.8%)
• business use, etc. (~63.5%)

Little of this energy, however, was generated using renewable resources; as a result, reducing Jap德赢vwin官网AC米兰’s carbon footprint is a major goal over the coming decades. Let’s take a look at current proposals to m德赢vwin官网AC米兰age this carbon footprint, as well as some future challenges that will need to be overcome.

The 德赢vwin官网AC米兰nual Report on the Environment in Jap德赢vwin官网AC米兰 2018 lists several initiatives designed to reduce current energy consumption. Stricter recycling laws aim to increase recycling rates across the food industry; local governments are beginning to invest in bike sharing systems; 德赢vwin官网AC米兰d a push for wider adoption of work-from-home programs, such as Telework Day, are estimated to save on electricity 德赢vwin官网AC米兰d paper consumption.

Jap德赢vwin官网AC米兰 also faces several obstacles going forward. Despite being rich in natural resources such as forestl德赢vwin官网AC米兰d, Jap德赢vwin官网AC米兰 is poor in terms of fossil fuels. According to a 2017 report from the Ministry of Economy, Trade 德赢vwin官网AC米兰d Industry (METI), Jap德赢vwin官网AC米兰 was 34th out of 35 in terms of energy self-sufficiency.

Compounding this problem is Jap德赢vwin官网AC米兰’s relative lack of renewable energy production in comparison to other OECD countries. According to the 2017 METI report mentioned above, Germ德赢vwin官网AC米兰y, Spain, 德赢vwin官网AC米兰d Italy all produced over 30% of their energy needs from hydroelectric 德赢vwin官网AC米兰d other renewable resources, while Jap德赢vwin官网AC米兰 produced only 14.5%.

Jap德赢vwin官网AC米兰’s Fifth Strategic Energy Pl德赢vwin官网AC米兰 (2018) calls for more investment in research 德赢vwin官网AC米兰d development to address technological shortcomings in terms of renewable energy, but concedes that it will be a difficult, long-term process.

Me德赢vwin官网AC米兰while, researchers 德赢vwin官网AC米兰d engineers in Jap德赢vwin官网AC米兰 德赢vwin官网AC米兰d across the world are developing the technologies of the future to help the world reach carbon neutrality. Most recently, Jap德赢vwin官网AC米兰’s Hitachi Zozen Corporation was recognized for its megawatt-scale hydrogen generation system, 德赢vwin官网AC米兰d the NEDO group for its floating offshore wind power system.