Editorial: CO2 targets in doubt as Environment Ministry OKs new coal-fired power plants
(Mainichi Japan)
The Environment Ministry has decided to permit construction of new coal-fired power plants -- an about-face from its previous opposition to the stations over worries they would harm anti-global warming efforts. The ministry intends to join hands with the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry in tightening controls on the electric power industry's greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired plants.
Still, it remains unclear how effective measures the two ministries will take to tighten control on the industry will be, and serious questions remain as to whether power companies will be able to slash their greenhouse gas emissions, including of carbon dioxide.
The government set a goal of reducing Japan's greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent from 2013 levels by 2030. The goal is based on the assumption that the ratio of Japan's electricity output from coal-fired power plants will be cut from the current 30 percent to 26 percent. This is because even the most advanced coal-fired thermal power stations produce twice the amount of CO2 emitted by natural gas-fired plants.
However, utilities have worked out plans to build more cheap-to-fuel coal-fired stations, as most nuclear reactors remain idled and the retail electricity market is deregulated. If these plans are to go ahead, it would endanger the prospects that the government can achieve its greenhouse gas emission cut target. As such, the Environment Ministry voiced opposition to these plans based on the Act for Assessment of Environmental Impacts.
The measures to tighten controls on the electric power industry's greenhouse gas emissions, which the Environment Ministry and the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry have agreed on, will set a numerical target for the fuel efficiency of coal-fired and other thermal power generation and urge utilities to decommission inefficient stations. Moreover, the measures will urge electric power retailers to increase the combined ratio of nuclear power and renewable energy to 44 percent of total electricity sales by 2030. To that end, the ministries are set to revise their notices based on the Act on Temporary Measures for Promotion of Rational Uses of Energy and Recycled Resources in Business Activities and the law aimed at advancing energy supply structures.
Major electric power companies and those set to enter the market have set up an organization that will manage each member's emission reduction plans in line with the government's goal.
If these systems function properly, they will be effective in cutting CO2 emissions to a certain extent. However, the notice based on the Act on Temporary Measures for Promotion of Rational Uses of Energy cannot force utilities to shut down fuel-inefficient power stations. Efforts made by the power industry are voluntary.
The Environment Ministry is supposed to receive reports from the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry on the progress in the industry's efforts to slash greenhouse gas emissions. If the industry's efforts are insufficient, the Environment Ministry should consider introducing an emissions cap-and-trade system among power companies. The ministry should also explore the possibility of implementing a system under which charges would be levied on utilities depending on their CO2 emission amounts.
The Paris Agreement, adopted at the 21st Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change late last year, sets the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero in real terms by the latter half of the current century.
The measures to tighten control on coal-fired power generation have been drawn up to help achieve the 2030 emissions goal. Japan is required to further cut greenhouse gas emissions to achieve the goal set in the Paris Agreement. However, coal-fired power stations are usually in operation for about 40 years. If the government is to approve the construction of such power stations one after another, it could hinder efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the future.
Japan, which experienced an accident at the tsunami-ravaged Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, should not rely heavily on atomic power and coal-fired thermal power, and instead should try to achieve a low-carbon society by reducing energy consumption and expanding the use of renewable energy.
