Japan's energy conservation initiatives: Highlighting the energy conservation policy

This article introduces the energy conservation activities in Japan, focusing on the energy conservation policy. The energy conservation activities in Japan started with the two oil shocks in the 1970s. Development of relevant laws and promotion of subsidy measures were started in this period as well. The consciousness for the energy conservation had been once weakened in the late 1980s through the time of bubble years, but in response to the internationally up-streaming discussions on global environmental problems in the late 1980s, the importance of the energy conservation was called for again in Japan. Under these circumstances, the final energy consumption in Japan after the oil shocks has leveled off in the industrial sector thanks to their endeavor for energy conservation, but in the commercial/residential sector and transportation sector, it has been continuously increasing. Under these conditions and more and more severe energy situations such as the steep rise of crude oil price, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry established the 'New National Energy Strategy' in May 2006, in which a new energy conservation target was set forth in that the energy efficiency would be improved by 30% or more by 2030. Responding to this target, the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy summarized and published the 'Energy Conservation Technology Strategy (Interim Report)' in September 2006. (C) 2007 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.