Revises “Green Growth Strategy”
On 18th June, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced to have revised “Green Growth Strategy” towards carbon neutrality in 2050.
“Green Growth Strategy” was compiled at the end of last year to widely emphasize nations policy and concept in achieving carbon neutrality that Prime Minister Yoshiharu Suga instructed Mr. Hiroshi Kajiyama, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry to develop with cooperation of relevant ministries. The report emphasizes that the action for global warming is not caught as a constraint on economic growth, but rather as an opportunity for growth and that it aims to foster a “virtuous cycle of economy and environment.” The report indicated 14 sectors to be focused on and compiled the issue and roadmap of each sector in an action plan for this.
The report re-edited to the 14 sectors at the end of the last year and reflected the half a year of the study. It aims to establish and commercialize the next-generation power generation technologies with ultra-high temperatures by positioning geothermal power generation as renewable energy which could be used as a base load power source. The thermal energy industry has set an ambitious target in 2050 to input 90% of synthetic methane into pipelines. In the existing sectors, for offshore wind, they aim at eight to nine yen per 1kWh for the power generation cost between 2030 and 2035 and put in the field of view to achieving a domestic procurement ratio of 60% by 2040. For nuclear power, fast reactors were added to the focus areas.
In the “Green Growth Strategy” approved as a cabinet decision by the government on the same day of 18th June, the description that carbon neutral is on the premise of electrified society is added from the original proposal. It also emphasized the importance of digital control in the electricity network to make the most use of renewable energy. In the “Large-boned Policy” (Basic Policies for Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform), the pillars are green and digital, localization and low birthrate countermeasures.