Energy policy & New National Energy Strategy in Japan

Energy is the bedrock of our daily lives and industry. Now is the time that industry, government and academia must join together and examine highly independent, fully environmentally considerate and rational energy systems. In this presentation, recent Japanese policy will be introduced focusing on New National Energy Strategy. Looking at future technology trends, it is probable that, in the case of electricity generation, nuclear power, followed by coal and natural gas, will provide the bulk of the base load, and these will be complemented by highly independent symbiotic and regional energy systems, that will form clusters with appropriate size. In the year 2030, oil will be restricted to transport and chemical use, in other words, “noble use” for which it is difficult to find alternatives. In the transport sector, as fuel cell vehicles start to reach full commercialization, it is possible that advances in the capabilities of fuel cells will see plug-in hybrids and electrical vehicles cornering a larger share of the market. From the viewpoint of effective energy, or “exergy”, an arrival of the “hydrogen society” is surely only a matter of time. In this address, having gained a grasp of these issues, first of all the Japan’s energy strategy in terms of energy-saving, new energies and nuclear power will be looked, and then some observations about the restructuring of the energy system will be presented focusing on thermoelectric technology.