Akihabara News (Tokyo) — The Renewable Energy Institute, a Tokyo-based think tank, recently released a report contending that Japan’s energy goals for 2050 are too reliant on problematic Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has indicated that it will introduce a system of mixed power generation in Japan by 2050 which will see renewable energy limited to about 50–60%–a proportion that falls well below the 90% recommended by the International Energy Agency.
Japan hopes to meet its carbon neutral targets through the widespread use of CCS.
CCS denotes the storage of carbon underground in order to keep it from rising into the atmosphere and aggravating the climate crisis. CCS advocates believe that this technology has a crucial role to play in meeting climate obligations.
For its part, the Renewable Energy Institute contends that the Japanese government’s plans are overreliant on CCS as a means to preserve thermal power plants, noting that it is economically inefficient and ultimately not practical.
Indeed, CCS is losing some of the international popularity which it once enjoyed. CCS projects currently in operation are few in number due to the relatively high economic and environmental costs of implementation. Of the 31 CCS projects currently in operation globally, 28 store their carbon in land-based underground reservoirs.
As noted in the Renewable Energy Institute’s report, however, suitable onshore locations within Japan capable of storing large amounts of carbon have not yet been discovered.
Consequently, the Japanese government is now exploring the possibility of storing carbon offshore; that is, beneath the seabed.
The Renewable Energy Institute notes that any attempt to implement such a policy would be extremely costly in comparison to a land-storage system, partially due to the lack of existing research. Furthermore, the technology required to transport carbon to offshore storage sites on an industrial scale has yet to be proven.
One additional possibility that the Japanese government is exploring is to export carbon to overseas sites in Southeast Asia for processing and storage, which could lead to international complications. The Renewable Energy Institute calls this a “double vulnerability.”
The norm for most nations, the report emphasizes, is simply to phase out thermal power plants.
For Japan, earthquakes pose a special risk to CCS storage projects.
Research by the US Department of Energy has concluded that temblors could potentially cause carbon reservoirs to leak, resulting in environmental damage to soil, groundwater, and surface water. Of course, carbon leaking into the atmosphere would also cancel out the expected environmental benefits of the technology.
The report emphasizes that Japan’s current energy strategy does not include plans to research and address this potential threat.
Moreover, studies by Stanford University and the US National Research Council have concluded that CCS is itself capable of triggering earthquakes.
The Renewable Energy Institute fears that the Japanese government’s plans fall far below the emerging global standard for combatting the threat of carbon emissions, and create unnecessary risks.
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