Japan’s policy in the field of hydrogen energetics development

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problems of hydrogen energetics development in Japan and various aspects of Japan’s domestic and foreign policy in this direction. Renewable energy technologies are evolving increasingly actively, and hydrogen takes one of the leading places among them. This is especially important for countries with a deficit of fossil energy resources (coal, oil, and natural gas), which Japan belongs to. The significance of traditional fuel energy decreases as the economic efficiency of renewable energy sources increases, but the expansion of the latter also faces natural (climatic) and technological limitations. In this context, hydrogen will be able to be the bedrock for the future power engineering if the challenges of its transportation, storage, and safe use for energy production can be solved. For the successful development of hydrogen energy in Japan, several questions should be clearly answered. First: what is the preferable way to obtain hydrogen (national production in a traditional or "green" way, import, establishment of joint ventures with foreign partners. Second: which industries are most preferable for the introduction of hydrogen technologies? And third: is the commercial efficiency (payback) achievable for the construction and operation of various hydrogen infrastructure facilities? The establishment of the international legal regime for the export/import of hydrogen is also of great importance, given the considerable complexity and danger of such operations. Energy security is crucial for Japan, and that is why the requirements for energy infrastructure operation here are very high. Without a step-by-step implementation of these measures, the damage caused by the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident would have been much greater. A constant practice of work under the conditions of strict restrictions and regulations has formed in Japan stable mechanisms to counter emergency situations and relatively rapidly mitigate consequences while preventing critical damage to the population. Therefore, the study of the experience of Japan, the first nation in the world that adopted and started to realize a purposeful strategy for the development of hydrogen energy, constitutes a great scientific and practical interest.

Keywords

• japan’s energy policy
• hydrogen energetics
• international cooperation
• east asian region