It¡¯s no secret that Japan is betting on hydrogen as a clean and green energy source.
Japan was the first country in the world to launch a national hydrogen strategy, with then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe unveiling the policy in 2017.
Since then, more than 30 countries and regions ¡ª including South Korea, Australia, the United Kingdom and the European Union ¡ª have followed suit, demonstrating an acceleration of government interest in the role of hydrogen as part of a nation¡¯s long-term energy goals.
¡°Hydrogen is key for sustainable development,¡± says Eiji Ohira, director general of the fuel cell and hydrogen technology office at the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). ¡°It can be produced from a variety of sources, does not emit greenhouse gasses when used and can help to power various different sectors.¡±
Japan ultimately aims to become the world¡¯s first ¡°hydrogen economy,¡± with the chemical element increasingly portrayed as a vital cog in the country¡¯s efforts to reach its long-term goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050.
But that target remains a long way off. Fossil fuels account for more than 80% of Japan¡¯s existing energy supply, of which 32% comes from coal power plants. This places Japan as the sixth largest consumer of coal in the world, an energy source that alone produces one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions each year.
Furthermore, the Japanese government¡¯s target to reduce the share of coal to 19% of the nation¡¯s energy mix by 2030 is widely considered insufficient to meet its decarbonization targets and, ultimately, the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius.
¡°Coal is still the largest source of Japan¡¯s CO2 emissions,¡± says Evan Gach, program coordinator at Kiko Network, a nonprofit environmental organization working to prevent global warming. ¡°Most people see coal as a thing of the past and are surprised to know that, not only is it still being used, but that there are plans to begin operating new coal-fired power units across the country.¡±
¡®Clean coal¡¯ debate
Critics of the government¡¯s energy policy have questioned the competing nature of Japan¡¯s domestic climate commitments with its investment in new coal-fired power plants at home and abroad.
Energy officials typically point to recent technological advances that allow coal to be used to make hydrogen while capturing and storing the harmful emissions generated in the process, as well as the potential to use hydrogen or ammonia in power plants that can burn different types of fuel at the same time.
But Yasuko Suzuki, program coordinator at Kiko Network, says that such arguments don¡¯t paint the full...
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