Energy Conservation in Japan

Abstract

A serious concern about the supply shortage of electricity after the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, together with a growing concern about global warming, has enhanced the need to promote energy conservation in Japan. The residential sector, which is the focus of this book, has increased its share of total energy consumption for the past two decades in Japan. Electricity represents approximately half of the residential energy consumption, and is a key factor in promoting energy conservation in the residential sector. Conventional policy measures such as energy taxes, subsidies, labeling, and technological standards for energy efficiency have contributed to the development and use of energy-efficient technologies, but additional policy interventions are necessary to further constrain electricity consumption. Innovative energy conservation instruments such as critical peak pricing, conservation requests, in-home displays, and home energy reports are expected to mitigate the increasing concern about electricity supply and CO₂ emissions by constraining the residential usage of electricity in the future.