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December 23, 2024
 

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EMISSIONS

Steam rises from a geothermal plan in Yuzawa, Akita Prefecture. Despite its long history and potential, geothermal provided just 0.3% of Japan's overall energy mix in the fiscal year from April 2023
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Dec 22, 2024
Is Japan finally ready to tap its abundant geothermal energy potential?
Japan boasts the world’s third-largest potential supply of geothermal energy, but this renewable energy resource has mostly been untapped.
The entrance of the Sodegaura LNG Terminal, operated by Tokyo Gas, in Sodegaura, Chiba Prefecture
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Dec 18, 2024
Japan's draft climate strategy spurs calls for bolder cuts in carbon emissions
The government last month presented a draft plan to aim for a 60% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 from 2013 levels.
The Energy Powerwall Home Battery charging station in Brussels in 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 17, 2024
New EU emissions rules drive petrol car price hikes and EV discounts
Analysts say major carmakers have adjusted their pricing strategy to curb demand for heavy emitters and make pricier electric models appealing.
India has the most steelmaking capacity under development in the world, surpassing even China.
BUSINESS
Dec 16, 2024
A booming and coal-heavy steel sector risks India’s green goals
India is the world’s third-largest emitter and the rate at which it can decarbonize will have a major impact on global climate efforts.
Crystal Smith, the elected chief of the Haisla people, stands on the shoreline of the Douglas Channel in Kitamaat, British Columbia, Canada, on Oct. 1.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 15, 2024
Indigenous people in Canada weigh costs of a gas windfall
The promise of billions of dollars of gas investment has renewed a generations-old debate over Indigenous identity and environmental stewardship.
The Stratos direct air capture facility, a joint venture between Occidental Petroleum and asset manager BlackRock, in Ector County, Texas
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / ANALYSIS
Dec 14, 2024
Earthquakes and blowouts undermine case for carbon storage in Texas
Texas has seen surging interest from companies hoping to bury carbon dioxide in its oilfields.
President-elect Donald Trump plans to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement on climate change and increase domestic fossil fuel production, putting international efforts to cut global carbon emissions in peril.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2024
Trump's election sets stage for new climate leaders to emerge
As Trump plans to put "America first," including before the planet, other countries must seize the opportunity to keep alive efforts to limit global temperature rise.
A Toyota production line in New Jersey. The U.S. is a key market for Japanese automakers, who are closely monitoring policy changes in Washington as the incoming Trump administration is likely to change the course set by President Joe Biden.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Dec 12, 2024
Japan’s auto industry looks down the road to Trump presidency
Of the cars sold in the U.S., 40% are from Japanese makers, who are determined to hold onto this market share despite Washington's policy vagaries in the auto field.
The government is preparing to set Japan’s new Nationally Determined Contribution, an emissions reduction commitment made by members of the United Nations climate framework's Paris Agreement.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Dec 10, 2024
As Japan nears new climate goal, criticism of policy process ramps up
Critics say the process is not intended to facilitate genuine debate, and that those who support the energy status quo are overrepresented on policy panels.
Kansai Electric Power's Takahama nuclear power plant's No.1 reactor (right) in Fukui Prefecture, which surpassed 50 years of operation in November. On the left is the No. 2 reactor.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2024
Renewables eyed as biggest source of Japan's energy mix in fiscal 2040
The government is also expected to aim for a 20% share for nuclear energy as part of efforts toward decarbonization.
Tokyo Gas' liquefied natural gas terminal in Sodegaura, Chiba Prefecture, last month. The utility is considering several wind power projects in Southeast Asia amid the global decarbonization push.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Dec 5, 2024
Tokyo Gas eyes wind power projects in Southeast Asia
The gas utility is expected to make final investment decisions on some of the envisaged projects as early as 2025.
Trees in a forest in Nyanga, Gabon
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 3, 2024
Scientists behind ‘net zero’ concept say nations are getting it wrong
Countries may be claiming carbon credits for work already being done by land and oceans — and the accounting mismatch has consequences.
A thermal power plant in Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture. Policymakers suggest setting a target of cutting emissions by 60% by 2035.
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2024
Japanese panel suggests 60% emissions reduction target for 2035
Japan already has a goal to reduce 2013-level emissions by 46% by 2030.
A Toshiba film-based perovskite photovoltaic module on display at the Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions booth at Smart Grid Expo in Tokyo on Feb. 28
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 26, 2024
Japan considers promoting the use of perovskite solar cells for energy
The plan is part of work to expand the use of renewable energy sources by supporting the introduction of next-generation technologies.
The New Delhi skyline engulfed in heavy smog on Nov. 17
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Nov 24, 2024
Mounting economic costs of India's killer smog
Smog in New Delhi this month contains more than 50 times the World Health Organization's recommended limit of fine particulate matter.
A man walks past a gasoline station in Tokyo on Thursday.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Nov 24, 2024
How Japan can exit the fossil fuel subsidies it can’t seem to quit
While offering relief to low-income households, such measures encourage the continued use of the fossil fuels driving climate change.
Delegates applaud during a closing plenary meeting of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Sunday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 24, 2024
Developing nations blast $300 billion COP29 climate deal as insufficient
The deal reached at the close of the two-week COP29 summit in Azerbaijan resulted from fractious and at times openly hostile negotiations.
Titan Cement's factory in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, Egypt
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 23, 2024
How big fossil-fuel-producing countries export emissions abroad
A loophole in the 2015 Paris accord has allowed countries to say they are making climate progress while also exporting fossil fuels at breakneck pace.
The entrance of the COP29 United Nations climate change conference venue in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Friday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 23, 2024
Wealthy countries' $300 billion offer seeks to end COP29 stalemate
The two-week talks have been marked by division between wealthy governments resisting a costly outcome and developing nations pushing for more.
An oil pump jack and drilling rigs in an oilfield on the shore of the Caspian Sea, near the Aquatic Palace stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Thursday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 23, 2024
At a climate conference in oil country, progress remains elusive
More than a third of Azerbaijan’s gross domestic product comes from fossil fuels, and about 90% of its exports are linked to oil and gas.
Bankruptcies and suicides rise as Japanese struggle with mounting debt
Lawyers estimate that personal bankruptcies in Japan are on track to reach the highest since 2012 this year.
Honda and Nissan consider mutual production of vehicles, report says
Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe at the Japan Mobility Show 2023 at Tokyo Big Sight in October 2023.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Nippon Steel alleges undue White House influence on doomed deal review
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Dec. 10.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’
Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

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