National Strategies and Plans

 1. “Basic Energy Plan”

• In order to initiate the energy policy in a comprehensive and consistent manner, the “National Fundamental Law on Energy” was enacted in June 2002. This law sets the basic principles regarding energy policy as: 1. Energy security; 2. Adaptability to the environment; and 3. Utilization of market mechanism based on the careful consideration of these points. According to these principles, the government was directed to draft and publish the “Basic Energy Plan” in order to promote energy demand and supply related policies in a long term, comprehensive, and strategic manner. In October 2003, the formation of the plan was decided by a Cabinet decision and submitted to the Diet and the government has since promoted the energy policy based on this Plan.
  
  According to the law, the Plan is called for review in every three years and shall be amended when necessary. In 2007, the amendment was made for the 2003 October's “Basic Energy Plan”, taking into account the recent fluctuation of energy related status. The amendments are as follows:
  1. Promotion of nuclear power generation including nuclear fuel cycle and expansion and steady increase of new energy,
  2. Strengthening of strategic and comprehensive actions toward energy security of energy resources such as oil, etc.,
  3. Strengthening of energy conservation policies, active initiative in setting an international framework that is effective to the issue of climate change.
  4. Breakthrough of constraint on energy or environment through technology (Strengthening of technologies and promotion of its strategic use).

 2. “New National Energy Strategy”

• In May 2006, Japan declared the “New National Energy Strategy” which specified five featured fields that would be the focus for the future energy security. This includes energy efficiency and conservation policy with specific measures and targets setting the 2030 targets of 30 % energy efficiency improvement. Listed measures include:

 3. “Energy Conservation Frontrunner Plan”

• In order to secure the country’s energy security, the “New National Energy Strategy” was formulated. This strategy sets out the strategy toward 2030 in the area of energy conservation, transport energy, new energy, nuclear energy, etc. In this strategy, the plan called “Energy Conservation Frontrunner Plan” was set. In the “Energy Conservation Frontrunner Plan”, as a means to improve energy efficiency more than 30% by the year 2030, it states that a virtuous circle of technological innovation and a social system will be established, setting an strategy for energy conservation technology that has a look over the future and the developing and dissemination of the benchmarking approach (with this approach, energy conservation effect can be quantitatively verified). Based on this plan, the “Energy Conservation Technology Strategy” was formulated with the prospective target of recognizing the energy conservation technology as Japan’s “source of the industrial competitiveness” in the international society and achieving the respected status of the “World No.1 Country of Energy Conservation” by overcoming the restrictions of resources and environment toward 2030.

 4. “Energy Conservation Technology Strategy”

• The “New National Energy Strategy (May 2006)” and “Basic Energy Plan (March 2007)”specify that the “Energy Conservation Technology Strategy” shall be formulated. They specify that, in the strategy, issues to be solved by technology shall be identified and a roadmap regarding technology development to solve these issues shall be formulated. In the “Energy Conservation Technology Strategy”, under the recognition that technology development in the energy field needs both the long term lead time and the long lasting efforts between public and private, energy technology expected to be commercialized were identified and classified as follows in the five items per each policy target: 1) Total energy efficiency improvement; 2) Fuel diversification in the transportation sector; 3) Development and promotion of dissemination of new energy; 4) Promotion of nuclear energy and securing the safety; 5) Security of supply of fossil fuels and utilization of effective and clean use of them. Based on these concepts, “Technology map”, “Roadmap”, and “Introduction Scenario” were made
  
  In the energy conservation technology development, integration of various seed technologies is important. Especially, to generate a radical technology, cooperation between actors which shall not be restricted in each business category and field of study. To this effect, toward 2030, for the purpose of promoting the energy conservation technology development that takes into consideration of societal system change and the emergence of the synergy effect resulted from the mutual cooperation in technology development, five important technology fields were identified for the purpose of the development and dissemination in the form of a roadmap.