Coal is Dead, Long Live Coal? Japan’s Repurposing of Coal Power Plants

A year ago, Japan’s METI announced plans to phase out “low-efficiency” coal power generation. Since then, the government has added ever more ambitious commitments to decarbonization. Still, this is h...

Japan’s Plan to Decarbonize the Gas Industry Rests on Methanation

These are challenging times for natural gas. Less than a decade ago, it seemed that gas was entering a golden age, taking over from its dirtier cousins, coal and oil. Recently, international bodies, ...

Emission Cuts, EVs Driving Renewed Interest in Hydro in Japan

One of the biggest immediate beneficiaries of Japan’s more active decarbonization agenda, so far, has been hydropower. In recent months, most major domestic power utilities have unveiled corporate an...

LNG Contract Destination Clauses in Japan’s Crosshairs

In Japan, January’s rapid rise in LNG prices stirred more than just anxiety over costs. After years of silence on the issue, the government is once again turning its eye to the contract terms of inte...

Japan’s Biggest Fossil Fuel Empire Pivots to Ammonia and Offshore Wind

The fate of Japan’s recently-announced and ambitious decarbonization pledge will in large part depend on the future course determined by the country’s largest utility, JERA. The company is a vast net...