Friday, Feb. 24, 2006

By TAKAO IKEUCHI

Kyodo News

Japan's efforts to cut carbon dioxide emissions may be compromised as more coal-fired thermal power stations, which emit large amounts of the greenhouse gas, are being built, prompting the Environment Ministry to dig in its heels over the need to introduce an environment tax.

Thermal power plants and factories crowd Chiba Prefecture's Keiyo Coastal Industrial Zone, on the east side of Tokyo Bay in this February 2005 photo.

These power stations are attractive for utilities because coal is cheaper than oil and natural gas. And the recent liberalization of the power industry makes it easier for newcomers to the market to build them.

But the flip side of these advantages is that they are hampering the government's push to achieve its greenhouse gas reduction targets under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which aims to curb global warming.

The protocol, which obliges Japan to reduce emissions by 6 percent by 2008-2012 from 1990 levels, went into effect last February.

"The achievement of the protocol's target, which is severe in itself, will become even more difficult" because of the growing number of coal-fired power plants, an Environment Ministry official said.

At a news conference in late January, Environment Minister Yuriko Koike voiced her opposition to the construction of a coal-fired power plant planned in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture, by Sigma Power Yamaguchi Corp., a new power utility jointly owned by Toshiba Corp. and Orix Corp.

"(The project) seems to be going in a considerably different direction from our pledge under the Kyoto Protocol, and the government's plans to achieve the target," she said.

The power plant would emit 5.82 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, more than twice what a liquefied natural gas-fired station of the same power output would emit.

In a note presented last week, the ministry asked the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which oversees power plants, to halve emissions at the plant, virtually calling on METI to order the facility to be converted to an LNG-fired plant.

The Environment Ministry's stance faces opposition from the power industry, including Sigma Power.

"In line with the state's guidance, we have worked out power supply plans by balancing stable supply and prices, and environmental conservation. If we were to be suddenly asked to stop using coal, that's a problem," said an executive at one utility.

But Shigemoto Kajiwara, chief of the Environment Ministry's section fighting global warming, remains firm.

"We will continue to express opinions in our environmental assessment to those parties that are large carbon dioxide emitters," he said.

With the surge in coal-fired power generation in recent years, Japan's coal use in fiscal 2004 was 2.8 times higher than in fiscal 1990.

While plans are in the works to construct 10 coal-fired power stations, including three with a generating capacity of 1,000 mw each, there is no plan to close older coal-fired plants or to reduce their power output.

The Environment Ministry is making a stand because emission controls are not proving effective. In fiscal 2004, Japan emitted 1.32 billion tons of carbon dioxide, 7.4 percent more than in fiscal 1990.

It said increases in coal-fired power, coupled with the effects of prolonged nuclear power plant shutdowns due to accidents and safety problems, are pushing up the volume of carbon dioxide emitted per kilowatt generated, a measure called energy intensity.

"A worsened energy intensity impacts the volume of emissions stemming from industrial and household consumption of electricity," one think tank researcher said. "Japan's situation is serious because the share of alternative energy sources, such as wind power, is lower than in Europe, for example."

METI will map out a new state energy strategy in June, but at METI-sponsored meetings of experts, the thrust of discussions has been how to secure a stable energy supply, including stockpiling, with hardly any mention of steps to prevent global warming and promote energy conservation.

The Environment Ministry-proposes environment tax was discussed in 2004 and 2005 but not introduced, largely due to opposition from industry.

Top Environment Ministry officials are becoming increasingly irritated with this turn of events.

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