Japan Relies on Nuclear Energy 10 Years after Fukushima Disaster

The Japanese government has approved a comprehensive energy production plan that outlines a roadmap toward a carbon-neutral goal by 2050.

Japan bids to double the current proportion of renewable energy in domestic electricity generation.

The Japanese government aims to make renewables account for 36% to 38% of total power generation capacity in the country by 2030.

This target is more than double the 18% recorded in 2019.

The amount coming from fossil energy sources will be almost halved, from 75.7% to 41%, according to the plan, which is updated approximately every three years, according to the KYODO, a Japanese news agency website.

The plan that has been recently approved by the Cabinet stated that Japan will make maximum effort to introduce renewable energy on the basis of the principle of giving it a top priority as a major source of energy in 2050.

It is worth noting that the earthquake that struck northern Japan recently did not damage the nuclear power plant

As for nuclear energy, its contribution to Japan's future will be between 20% and 22% in 2030, according to the plan.

Although the plan pledged to reduce as much as possible the reliance on nuclear power, the latest numerical goal remained unchanged from the previous plan set in 2018.

For the first time, the plan included a target for hydrogen and ammonia, which do not emit carbon dioxide when burned, with the goal of securing 1% of the country's total power generation from next-generation energy sources.

Industry Minister Koichi Hagiuda, after taking office early this month, said he wanted the revised base energy plan to be finalized by the cabinet before the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which begins on October 31.

The Cabinet also approved a government plan to combat global warming, which stipulates a set of measures towards the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 46% by 2030 compared to the 2013 fiscal year.

According to the Ministry of the Environment, Japan emitted the equivalent of 1.21 billion tons of carbon dioxide in 2019 alone, down 14% from fiscal 2013.

This was the sixth consecutive annual decline since comparable data became available in 1990.