Title photo above: The Bibai mines, Ishikari coalfield, Japan.
Figure 1
Japan generates 65% of its electricity from fossil-fuel power stations - coal and gas in equal measures. This is in stark contrast to the other G7 countries.
Figure 2
In April, 2024, the members of the G7 — a consortium of industrialised nations (see above in Fig 2) agreed in a communiqué to “phase out existing unabated coal power generation” by 2035. Such a pledge, if followed through, is highly significant since the G7 countries are collectively responsible for one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. For most of those countries, even Germany with its history of dependency on coal, this is certainly achievable. Japan signed up to it, but only because it believes that much of its coal-fired power comes from 'abated' power plants. Abated? The capture and storage of carbon dioxide emissions (CCS). But none of Japan's CFPPs have been fitted with CCS. Instead, Japan claims that its so-called 'clean coal' technology is an acceptable substitute for CCS, i.e. “efficient coal power,” which extracts more energy from less coal through advanced plant designs. Yet this only reduces CO2 emissions by 15-30%.
The problem is Japan is an energy-poor nation with a population of 125 million. It imports 94% of its energy supplies. One third of its electricity was generated by nuclear power plants but then, in 2011, an earthquake and subsequent tsunami severely damaged the nuclear power plant at Fukushima. Japan closed all its nuclear power plants at the time with only 11 reactors restarting in 2013. This left it with a huge hole in its carbon budget, one filled by coal and gas. Unsurprisingly, Japan receives much of its coal from Indonesia and Australia.
How then will Japan get anywhere near net zero by 2050? It has made encouraging noises to its international partners, e.g. the G7, but this is not reflected in its domestic energy policies. Today, Japan gets about 24 percent of its energy from clean sources — such as solar, wind, nuclear and hydropower — and is aiming to grow that share to 59 percent by 2030, according to a study last year from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The study found that Japan has the technology and know-how to get to 90 percent by 2035 while also reducing energy costs. Table 1 compares electricity generated from renewable sources in the 8 major coal producing/consuming countries. Japanese solar (see Figure 1 above) is taking the lead with rapid expansion planned for this and other renewable sectors.
Table 1
Umair Irfan writing in Vox added this most telling conclusion to his article on Japan's struggle to abandon coal.
'Yet even as they slowly lose their taste for coal, G7 members are developing a strong liking for natural gas. “In the last decade, gas has been the largest source of the global increase in CO2 emissions, and many G7 governments are investing in new domestic gas facilities,” Jane Ellis, head of climate policy at the think tank Climate Analytics said. They’re also sending it abroad. The US, the world’s largest natural gas producer, expects to double its natural gas exports by 2030 even as it aims to ratchet down domestic greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon dioxide can linger in the atmosphere for centuries, so the emissions today will shape the climate for years to come.
The G7 countries have the money and means to adapt to many of the worst impacts of climate change, but many of the less-wealthy nations do not. Without even more aggressive action from the biggest polluters in the world, the people who contributed the least to climate change will stand to suffer the most.'
Visit Climate Action Tracker's Japan page here to see the progress or lack of it that Japan has made on the road to net zero.
TITLE PHOTO: By Dddeco at Japanese Wikipedia - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,