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Japan will significantly raise its green energy target for 2030

2021-07-21T12:11:31.405Z


Japan plans to significantly increase the share of renewable energies in its electricity production by 2030, according to objectives not ...


Japan plans to significantly increase the share of renewable energies in its electricity production by 2030, according to non-final objectives unveiled by the government on Wednesday, which however prove to be below the expectations of environmental organizations and many companies. Japanese.

The share of renewable energies is expected to increase to 36-38% by 2030, against a current target of 22-24%, according to a preliminary report released on Wednesday by an agency attached to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Commerce. 'Industry (Meti).

This would represent a notable jump from the 18% share of green energy in Japan in 2019.

To read also: Jacques-Olivier Martin: "Reconciling nuclear and green energies"

The 2030 target for the share of nuclear power, a very controversial and limited energy in Japan since the Fukushima disaster in 2011, must remain unchanged at 20-22%, against barely 6.2% in 2019. However, this target seems impossible to be achieved in the eyes of many experts. The use of fossil fuels must mechanically decline: the share of liquefied natural gas (LNG), the main energy resource currently used by Japan, should be reduced to 20% in 2030, against a current target of 27% and a share of 37% in 2019. The share of coal in the archipelago's energy mix should also drop to 19%, against a current 2030 target of 26% and a share of 32% in 2019. That of oil should be reduced to 2%, against a current target of 3% and a share of 7% in electricity generation in 2019.

The country imports 90% of its energy needs

In addition to betting on renewable energies, Japan should also soon aim for a 1% share of its energy mix in 2030 via hydrogen and ammonia.

This gas composed of hydrogen and nitrogen does not emit CO2 emissions when it is used as fuel.

Japanese industrial projects to import hydrogen and ammonia in liquid form have already entered the test phase.

But for these alternative energies to be really clean, the production of these gases should also avoid generating CO2, or at least capture and store it.

Japan set itself a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 last year and, at the start of 2021, it had increased its 2030 target of reducing CO2 emissions to 46% compared to their 2013 levels, against a target previous 26% at the same maturity. Third world economic power, Japan was in 2019 the fifth largest CO2 emitting country in the world, behind China, the United States, India and Russia, according to the online platform Global CO2 Atlas.

Poor in natural resources, Japan imports nearly 90% of its energy needs.

And it had considerably increased its use of fossil fuels after the Fukushima disaster.

According to public broadcaster NHK, the Japanese government plans to continue discussing its new 2030 goals before finalizing the new roadmap in October.

Read also: Energy label: greener than green

Japan still has 140 coal-fired power plants in operation, and more are in the pipeline. Their promoters assure that they are cleaner than the old ones, but they remain much more polluting compared to other sources of energy. Jera, the largest electricity producer in Japan, wants to shut down its "

inefficient

"

coal plants

by 2030, and gradually use ammonia and hydrogen as co-fuels in its more modern thermal plants.

Source: lefigaro

All business articles on 2021-07-21

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