Japan and coal

‘Massive policy failure’ if Japan follows through with global coal plans, warns Al Gore

Japan is focusing on their pro-coal initiatives and has put a “halt” on their solar development program. The article focused on Al Gore and his reactions to Japan continuing to support coal as a main form of energy. Japan will “add 10 gigawatts of coal-fired electricity over the next five years.” According to the article, by 2024 Japan will require 34% of its total energy demand to be powered by coal. Japan’s pro-coal initiatives will have an effect on the rest of the world within the renewable energy sector.

Japan continues to back overseas coal-fired plants “through loans and investment.” It was interesting to read that a lot of fossil-fuel burning utilities have an influence over regulators in order to make it difficult to access renewable energy. This sounds similar to what happens in the United States with bigger oil companies that support certain politicians in order for those politicians to support their companies in the future. Japanese banks are investing in non-renewable energy projects overseas and in other Asian countries. This causes pollution in those countries and also exploits their resources. With Japan being a pro-coal country, this has a big effect on other Asian countries because they are outsourcing to those countries for land and resources.

It was interesting and surprising to hear that even today, other countries besides the United States is trying to boost and continue pro-coal initiatives. Initially, renewable energy was much more expensive than non-renewable energy, but today that is not necessarily the case. Renewables prove to be the future. Renewable energy is already starting to be cheaper than non-renewable forms of energy (https://www.power-eng.com/2019/10/08/carbon-group-report-japan-risks-71b-of-stranded-coal-assets/#gref). A big part of Trump’s campaign while he was running was to bring more jobs to individuals working in non-renewable energy sectors, especially with coal. In the last couple years, the Trump administration has removed various EPA regulations and has removed Obama’s Clean Energy plan that focused on increasing renewable energy sources.

The world is undergoing a transition period where renewable-energy sources are less expensive than non-renewable sources. If countries continue to support initiatives such as being pro-coal, they will not only continue to have a negative effect on the environment, but they will also experience destructive effects on their businesses and their economies.