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Publication Laka-library:
Carbon Dioxide Emissions Reduction. Potential in Japan's Power Section

Author	WWF
Date	October 2003
Classification	4.21.0.00/17 (JAPAN - GENERAL)
Front

1. Introduction

Recent global temperature measurements indicate that the world's average 
temperature has increased at much greater than historical rates in recent decades 
(1). Further, research strongly indicates that anthropogenic (human-caused)
emissions of pollutants that help to trap heat within the earth's atmosphere are 
at least in part to blame for these temperature increases. A substantial portion of 
these pollutant emissions have their origin in the combustion of fossil fuels. As 
the world's need for energy services (services provided by the use of forms of 
energy) increase, and in the absence of an abrupt shift to non-fossil energy 
sources, global temperature rise, and its attendant impacts, are expected to 
become increasingly problematic over the coming decades. As one of the world's 
leading industrial economies, Japan contributes a significant share, and has 
accounted for a significant historical share, of the emissions that have led to 
global temperature increases. As such, it is imperative that Japan, as well as 
other industrial countries, adopt aggressive policies to reduce so called 
"greenhouse gas" emissions.

This report provides a quantitative comparison of medium-term (2000 to 2020) 
energy "scenarios" for Japan; with a focus on scenarios for the electric power 
generation sector. This report compares the estimated impacts on pollutant 
emissions, and the overall costs to Japanese society, of providing energy services 
through a "Business As Usual" scenario, in which current trends in the Japanese 
economy and power sector continue, and in a "Power Switch" scenario in which 
more aggressive transitions to non-fossil and low-carbon fuels are carried out in 
the Japanese power sector. The goal of this comparison is to indicate the changes 
that will need to be made to move the Japanese power sector toward 
environmentally sustainability, and to estimate the impacts of those changes.

(1) ''Northern Hemisphere Temperatures During the Past Millennium: Inferences,
Uncertainties, and Limitations," Michael E. Mann and Raymond S. Bradley, and 
Malcolm K. Hughes, Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 26, No. 6, p.759, 1999.

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