FY2001 Energy-related CO2 Emissions Down 2.7%

Japan's energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions during fiscal 2001 declined 2.7 percent from the previous year, according to a report on the country's total energy supply and demand, announced by the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy on January 31, 2003. CO2 emissions per capita also dropped by 2.9 percent since the previous year, but these figures still represent an increase of 6.3 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively, from the 1990 levels.

The total supply of primary energy in 2001 was 2.6 percent lower than in 2000 (but 13.7 percent higher than 1990), due to a sharp reduction in energy consumption amidst the economic downturn. Final energy consumption was also down by 1.1 percent (but up 18.5 percent over 1990). Economic stagnation is also thought to be the cause of the drop in CO2 emissions.

By sector, the energy consumption of the industrial sector fell by 3.9 percent and the household sector was down 2.7 percent compared to the previous year. In the commercial sector it rose by 6.1 percent, however, and in the transportation sector by 0.5 percent year-on-year. The factors behind the rise in the commercial sector are increasing office space, the rapid growth in the use of information technology, and extended business hours.

By source, coal consumption, mainly for electricity, increased by 3.6 percent, but oil consumption fell substantially, by 6.3 percent, due to the prolonged recession and a warm winter. Likewise, consumption of non-fossil fuel energy sources, such as nuclear, hydropower and geothermal, also declined.



Posted: 2003/03/30 03:04:32 PM
Japanese version