Japan Looks to Increase its Renewable Energy Target

While Australia is looking to scale back its renewable energy efforts, Japan is looking to expand its own quite dramatically.

Japan’s environmental minister Nobuteru Ishihara was quoted as saying 30% of Japan’s energy should come from renewable sources. This is a 10% increase from the target Japan laid out in 2010 of having 20% of all energy be renewable by 2030.

The plan is part of a long-running effort to change the country’s energy profile in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in March of 2011. At last year’s UN Summit in Warsaw, Poland, the Japanese government reneged on its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. It argued that to meet its goals would be impossible because of the disaster.

Since then, however, the government has made more attempts to go green, becoming a leader in renewable energy in the Asia-Pacific region. Large clean energy subsidies have driven solar investment in the country as well, making them one of the sunniest in the world.

Beyond the environmental issue, Ishihara believes that driving clean energy production would help foster jobs and economic growth in regions of the country that are severely lacking. Some also believe that the focus could lead to partnerships with other countries in the region, such as Korea and the U.S.

The ramping up of the target could also lead investors leaving Australia as they look to scale back their RET to look toward Japan, as the country looks as it will present strong investing opportunities in the near future. 

Japan Looks to Increase its Renewable Energy Target