Japan's emissions aim 30% lower for 2020

The FEPC will aim for an emission intensity of 0.33kg-CO2/kWh by 2020. This is approximately 30 percent less than the outlook made in 2008.

"You may think that we have a lot of time before 2020," said Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan Chairman Shosuke Mori. "However, from the perspective of electric power companies, which require 10 to 20 years to build plants and infrastructure, is only a moment ahead."

Among the six alternative proposals concerning the country’s mid-term greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals presented by Global Warming Discussion Panel and conferred by the Prime Minister of Japan, a few are based on a scenario in which growth in electricity demand is very low compared with past trends.

"However, we can neither impose a limit on the amount of electricity used by our customers nor, as companies responsible for electricity supply, establish our supply plan based on demand forecasts that are highly uncertain," said Mori.

"Therefore, our major effort on the supply side up to 2020 will be to raise the share of non-fossil fuel power in the generation mix to 50 percent, while adhering to a supply plan based on an empirically justifiable forecast of electricity demand.

On the demand side we will aim to improve the energy efficiency of the whole of society by promoting the use of Eco-Cute water heaters in order to achieve cumulative shipment of 10 million units, and by deploying 10,000 electric vehicles," Mori explained.

In the context of international cooperation, FEPC plans to step up its activities toward a low-carbon future. An example of this scheme is by spreading Japan’s electric power technologies under the framework of the Asia-Pacific Partnership.

Furthermore, within the time frame of up to 2050, FEPC plans to pursue innovative technologies and actively promote decarbonisation of grid power and transformation of the energy supply-demand structure to boost reliance on electricity, thus helping to create a lower-carbon society.