THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
June 16, 2021 at 18:25 JST
Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi holds a news conference on June 15. (Toshio Kawada)
The government is expected to effectively end assistance for constructing coal-fired power plants in developing nations as part of global efforts to combat global warming.
At a news conference on June 15, Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said that Japan won’t support building even high-efficient coal power plants in developing countries.
Japan has been supporting the construction of such plants as an exception.
Koizumi said that it is necessary to review the government’s export infrastructure strategy.
Economy Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama only said at a news conference on the same day that his ministry will also consider the issue.
At the recent Group of Seven summit, the world leaders agreed to quit funding power plants without measures to reduce CO2 emissions, such as facilities for carbon dioxide capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), by the end of this year.
The Japanese government has said that it can support high-efficient facilities as an exception because the emissions released are relatively small.
But Koizumi said, “It is clear that they should not be allowed.”
When Kajiyama was asked whether Japan will stop supporting high-efficient facilities, he said, “We will consider it from now on, but Japan will stop it if it follows the letter of (the G-7 agreement).”
But he reiterated the necessity to respond to the realities of partner nations’ needs.
“The aspect of resources differs from country to country,” Kajiyama said. “Developing nations choose things that can be be supplied cheaply and stably.”
The new CCUS technology offers hope for reducing emissions, but it has not been put into widespread use.
“Even if it is commercialized, the cost will be higher,” Koizumi said.
He said that it will offer little advantage for coal-fired power plants in developing nations because of the cost, which reduces the attraction of the cheaper power source.
Koizumi added that it will be difficult to introduce the new technology into these countries.
(This article was written by Toshio Kawada and Junichiro Nagasaki.)
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