Innovation by Japan’s companies to advance clean energy technology can speed up the country’s efforts to curb emissions, according to former prime minister Yoshihide Suga.
Suga, who set Japan’s 2050 climate goal in 2020, said the No. 3 economy can benefit as developments like bendable solar panels and offshore wind become mainstream, helping the nation overcome space limitations which currently restrict deployments of conventional renewables.
“Japanese companies have excellent research and development, and they will help the country reach decarbonization targets, even if tweaks to its strategy are made along the way,” Suga said Friday during an interview in Tokyo.
Japan’s companies were once at the cutting edge — Sharp Corp. was the largest solar cell producer before losing market share, while Sony Group Corp. commercialized lithium-ion battery technology in 1991. But they have lately been surpassed in green technologies by Chinese producers, and the country now lacks its own supply chains for offshore wind parts, including turbines.
The government is working to encourage mass production and particularly the adoption of perovskites, a material that promises to boost the efficiency of solar panels and lower costs. Policies are also attempting to spur the expansion of offshore wind capacity.
Suga’s remarks come ahead of the COP28 climate summit opening in Dubai this week, where member countries will gather to advance cooperation on climate change, including the adoption of renewable energy.
“My biggest concern was that Japan was falling behind on rule-making” as the world strived to decarbonize, Suga said, recalling his October 2020 decision to commit Japan to zero out emissions by mid-century. Officials and businesses were previously reluctant to endorse a target because of wariness over impacts on the economy, he said.
“I thought it was my responsibility as a prime minister to make that announcement,” Suga said. “I braced myself for people to complain, but they didn’t. Everyone knew it was the right time to commit to these goals.”
Japan has drawn some criticism over the pace of its efforts to lower emissions, though its officials point to intractable problems including a lack of available land.
The country’s most recent climate strategy emphasizes established technologies like nuclear power, plus the development of innovations such as ammonia and hydrogen co-firing for electricity generation, or carbon capture and storage.
Critics of co-firing, which substitutes a portion of coal or gas at power plants with less polluting alternatives, contend it prolongs the lives of facilities that the world instead needs to shut down. Suga argues Japan’s technology could help lower emissions in nations across Asia that remain heavily dependent on fossil fuels.
“Japan is making progress with research on how to decarbonize those facilities,” Suga said.
