Policies to improve energy and environmental security, resilience, and reliability (III/V): a case study on Japan
· 6 min read
This is the third part of a five-part research paper on improving energy and environmental security, resiliency, and reliability situations in Japan. You can find part one here, part two here, part four here, and part five here.
The significant and rapid reduction of high-emitting coal, oil, and gas in the share of primary energy production, imports, and consumption along with energy efficiency and CCS is crucial to achieving Japan’s 2050 carbon neutrality target (Appendix A, Figures 2&3.). At the same time, the current “cleaner” (Sullivan, 2022a) energy transition needs to be as orderly and just as possible (WEC, 2022), simultaneously accounting for the tradeoffs between the country’s energy and environmental issues. Since high uncertainty surrounds the pace and scale of Japan’s energy transition, goals must be clarified before strategies can be considered and applied. The proposal of four separate sectoral policy options with goals for improving energy and environmental security, resilience, and reliability is consistent with Japan’s U.N. Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target (the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 46% in 2030 from its 2013 levels); G7 pledge to achieve “fully or predominantly decarbonized” electricity by 2035; 2050 carbon neutrality goal; National Security Strategy of Japan, and 6th Strategic Energy Plan, with the focus on “3E+S” (energy security, economic efficiency, environmental protection, and safety) (METI, 2021; NSS, 2022; Shiraishi, 2023).
The policies broadly outlined in Table 1 are intended to inform the debate on possible separate sectoral solutions to improve Japan's pressing energy and environmental issues. Section 4 analyzes the policies in detail, considering the costs and benefits of each policy option, the time frames for their implementations, and possible unintended consequences, which are connected to the tradeoffs among energy and environmental resilience and security, economic resilience and security, and political-military resilience and security.
Table 1. Breakdown of policy proposals
| Proposed Sectoral Policies | Objectives | Time frames | Selected Major Actions |
| Policy 1: Energy Security |
1) diversify energy sources and suppliers to provide "uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price" (IEA, 2023) 2) strengthen cyber & physical security measures for energy systems (applicable for Policy 2&3) |
short-term (2023-2030); medium-term (2030-2050); long-term (2050 and beyond) |
|
| Policy 2: Energy Resilience | Prepare energy systems to avoid, minimize, adapt, and recover from various types of energy disturbances to guarantee the systems' dependability and accessibility (CLS, n.d.) | short-term (2023-2030); medium-term (2030-2050); long-term (2050 and beyond) |
|
| Policy 3: Energy Reliability | Enhance energy systems' capabilities to survive various uncontrolled events, volatility, growing failure, and sudden loss of power of the systems' components (DOE, 2023) | short-term (2023-2030); medium-term (2030-2050); long-term (2050 and beyond) |
|
| Policy 4: Environmental Issues: Security | Resilience | Reliability |
Strengthen society's ability to withstand environmental risks, asset scarcity (water & food), and adverse changes (ENVS) Enhance and assist ecosystem ability for environmental damage resistance, quick recovery, and reorganization while transforming into a system with identical structure, function, feedback, and identity (ENVR) Anticipate, prepare, and adapt to the environment's ability to affect the country's various situations in a predictable or reliable manner (ENVR) |
short-term (2023-2030); medium-term (2030-2050); long-term (2050 and beyond) |
|
The next part will analyze each of these policy proposals in further detail.
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