Green Japan: "Net Zero" is Transforming Society ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 Business

November 2023

In a mountain-ringed bay off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan, fourteen giant wind turbines are rising from the water. The spinning of their 80-meter-long blades—driven by the same winds that bring this northern islブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 its famously fluffy snow—will generate enough electricity to power 83,000 homes when the project is completed in December.

The 112-megawatt Green Power Ishikari wind farm is one of a profusion of renewable-energy projects that are moving forward across Japan, as the country embarks on an industrial ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 social transformation intended to reduce its net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050.

The projects span a range of clean-energy fields, from wind to solar, geothermal, biomass, ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 hydrogen. ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 they are changing Japan's economy as well as its energy mix, by creating jobs, spurring innovation ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 investment, ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 opening the door to global business partnerships.

"Japan has made ambitious commitments to decarbonize its economy, ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 that is creating opportunities," says Rolブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 Thompson, founder ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 CEO of Austvent, an impact investing firm, who has been involved in a wide range of clean-energy projects in Japan.

The Ishikari wind farm's owner, Green Power Investment exemplifies those opportunities. Founded in 2004, it attracted Pattern Energy, an American renewable energy company, as a major shareholder, ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 currently operates or is building nine wind ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 solar projects around Japan, with more in the pipeline. In May, the Green Power was purchased by a Japanese consortium comprising NTT Anode Energy ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 JERA, a joint venture between the utilities TEPCO Fuel & Power ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 Chubu Electric Power.

Japan has long depended on imported fossil fuels for the majority of its energy, ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 constraints arising from the country's topography ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 climate have posed a challenge to the development of renewable sources. But the shift to renewable energy ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 other decarbonized power sources is accelerating, boosted by a broad-based GX Promotion Strategy that was unveiled this year.

New laws closely related to the strategy—the GX Promotion Act ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 GX Decarbonized Power Supply Act—contain a range of measures to promote renewable energy. For example, the development of the power grid, which is crucial for renewable energy has been speeded up.

In addition, the GX Promotion Strategy includes the establishment of a Japanese version of the Centralized Model, in which the government ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 local governments are more involved in order to accelerate the formation of offshore wind power project, ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 surveys are conducted quickly ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 efficiently.

Financial incentives are also on the table. Over the next decade, 150 trillion yen in combined public ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 private sector will be directed toward the GX field, including the development of renewable energy technologies. A GX League, comprising more than 560 companies, has started trials of a voluntary emissions trading system, which will be launched at full scale in FY2026, ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 a GX surcharge (surcharge on fossil fuel supply) will be introduced in FY2028.

Underpinning these efforts are Japan's world-class scientific ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 R&D capabilities. Among the technologies that show promise are next-generation photovoltaics such as perovskite solar cells—an innovation that originated in Japan—, ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 the use of hydrogen ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 ammonia for power generation.

Perovskite solar cells, which are thin-film devices ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 designed for places where traditional solar cells are difficult to install, such as building walls ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 load-bearing roofs, are under development, ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 Japan's Sekisui Chemical plans to commercialize the technology by 2025.

Hydrogen ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 its close relative ammonia (a compound of hydrogen ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 nitrogen) are also expected to play an important role in the world's energy transition, because they do not emit carbon dioxide when burned ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 can be produced using a wide range of primary energy sources. Ammonia, in particular, is insulated from global supply chain disruptions, which make it useful in countries with a high penetration of renewable energy as well as those—notably in the Global South —where thermal power plants are likely to remain in use for some time.

This year Mitsubishi Heavy Industries began full-scale operations at the Takasago Hydrogen Park in Takasago City, Hyogo Prefecture. The park is the world's first integrated validation facility for technologies related to hydrogen production, storage, ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 use in power generation. MHI has also established the Nagasaki Carbon Neutral Park, a development base for energy decarbonization technologies including hydrogen, biomass, ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 ammonia.

In Hokkaido, Green Power Investment is considering adding a hydrogen production plant to its wind farm, which would increase the farm's useful output by in effect turning surplus wind energy into hydrogen for later consumption.

Thompson, the Austvent CEO, says government agencies such as JETRO, the Japan External Trade Organization, can help foreign enterprises navigate licensing ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 permits, introduce business contacts, ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 advise on strategy ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 marketing.

"There are language ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 business practice challenges in Japan, but they are manageable," he says. "It's a stable country ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 a big market, ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 it has world-class technology to drive its energy transformation."

With a national push to decarbonize the economy underway ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 government programs available to support foreign entrepreneurs ブラック ジャック 勝ち 方 investors in the green sector, opportunities abound for global companies.