Industry Report

CCUS: An Unproven but Essential Element in Japan's Net Zero Strategy

Jul 03, 2022 08:31Swiss Business Hub Japan in cooperation with Shulman Advisory G.K.

In 2020, Japan committed to “net zero” CO2 emissions by 2050 without a clear roadmap to achieve that goal. However, the government announced that a number of low carbon technologies would be employed as pillars of the transition, including carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS). Our report sheds light on CCUS technology and its application in Japan and reveals potential market entry points for Swiss cleantech companies.

Industrial zone Shizuoka Prefecture Japan

The Japanese government believes that the “net” in “net zero” is a key component of its carbon neutrality, enabling it to keep burning some fossil fuels in hard-to-decarbonize sectors by offsetting or capturing/utilizing emissions from power plants and industrial processes, and even extracting CO2 directly from the atmosphere. The government is particularly keen on CCUS because it could help keep thermal power generation assets online to provide reliable baseload power.

In this report we discuss:

CCUS Technology and its Application in Japan (incl. a list of local companies involved & project details)
METI's (The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) Targets for CUUS
The Barriers to CCUS Development in Japan
Areas of Priority Development

This is the fifth publication within our ten-part "the Japanese Energy Industry" series. Catch up on the already published parts of the series in the link section below.