Japan’s greenhouse gas emissions dropped by 4% to a record low in the fiscal year ending March 2024, according to government data released on Friday. The decline was mainly due to reduced energy consumption, greater use of renewable energy, and the restart of nuclear power plants.
The country’s emissions for the 2023/24 year fell to 1.071 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, down from 1.116 billion tons the previous year. This is the lowest level since Japan began tracking emissions in 1990 and marks the second consecutive year of decline.
The industrial sector saw a 4% decrease in emissions, while the commercial and services sector experienced a 6.2% drop. Emissions from households fell by 6.8%, and the transportation sector recorded a 0.7% decline.
As the world’s fifth-largest CO2 emitter, Japan has set a target to reduce emissions by 46% from 2013 levels by 2030. The 2023/24 emissions represent a 23.3% reduction compared to 2013.
The amount of greenhouse gases absorbed by forests and other natural sources in 2023/24 decreased slightly by 0.2% to 53.7 million tons, the Ministry of the Environment reported. Japan’s emissions had risen sharply following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, which caused widespread nuclear plant shutdowns and an increased reliance on fossil fuels. Emissions peaked at 1.4 billion tons in 2013/14 but have since been reduced, partly due to the growing use of renewable energy and the gradual restart of nuclear reactors.
In 2023/24, renewable energy made up 22.9% of Japan’s total electricity generation, an increase of 1.1 percentage points from the previous year. Nuclear energy contributed 8.5%, up by 2.9 percentage points. Meanwhile, thermal power accounted for 68.6% of the country’s electricity, down 4 percentage points from the previous year. Thermal sources were split between coal (28.3%), natural gas (32.9%), and oil (7.4%).
Related Topics:
- Europe’s Largest LNG Plant, Hammerfest, Shuts Down for Annual Maintenance
- BOC to Source Nearly Half Its Power from Solar in Major Green Energy Shift
- BP Warns of Lower Q1 Output as Gas Weakness and Asset Sales Offset Oil Gains