Japan's Coal Problem | Zenbird - Gateway to Sustainability in Japan

Known for its excellent supply stability and economic efficiency, coal was long believed to be the magic resource to power human lives. It played a large part of creating energy around the world ever since the Industrial Revolution. However, it wasn’t long before its CO2 emission got noticed, together with people’s health problems and environmental destruction. That includes the coal problem which Japan is facing today.

Statistics related to coal
Problems that coal brings
Organizations in Japan tackling the coal problem
How can we overcome the coal problem
Latest news about energy in Japan

Statistics related to coal

Coal still generates 40% of the world’s electricity
In countries such as China and India, that number soars to 70%
The burning of coal is responsible for 46% of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide
Between 2001 and 2010, world consumption of coal increased by 45%
In Japan, 34% of its electricity still depends on coal today
As of 2018, Japan is ranked 6th in coal consumption after China, India, U.S., Russia and Germany.
As of 2018, Japan imported more than 210 million short tons of coal, making it the world’s third-largest coal-importing country after only India and China
Japan utilities plan to construct 20 gigawatts of coal-fired electric power generation capacity in the next decade.

Problems that coal brings

End-users of coal seldom see the destruction and pollution that it brings, thus causing an “out of sight, out of mind” symptom.

Mining accidents

Extraction of coal is always side-to-side with mining accidents that occur during the process of mining minerals or metals. Thousands of miners die from mining accidents each year, especially from underground coal mining.

Pollution from burning coal

The burning of coal results in CO2 emission. As a result, air pollution is reported in coal mining areas with many deaths especially in Asian countries every year–asthma rates are skyrocketing in locations exposed to particulates from burning coal, and developmental defects in multiple infants are found because their mothers have been exposed to toxic mercury pollution.

Air Pollution

Tiny particles from coal plants enter human lungs, causing serious health problems, respiratory diseases, and premature deaths. Also, in some parts of Asia, PM 2.5 air pollution is said to be accelerated by coal.

Climate Change and Environmental Impact

Coal plants accelerate extreme weather like frequent typhoons and storms. If Japan are to meet the Paris Agreement climate targets, new coal power stations should be reduced not increased. The biggest source of carbon pollution is no doubt coal and the world cannot afford to destroy the environment further by building more coal plants.

Ruined lives

Building of coal plants can affect the lives of local people, either by taking over their land, or through air and water pollution which will ultimately destroy their farming or fisheries.

Unlike other countries, Japan continues to promote coal-fired power generation

Japan plans to build new coal-fired power plants in Japan without the utilization of CCS technology to capture CO2 emissions. Japan is also taking the stance that coal-fired power plants will presumably help Fukushima’s economic recovery from the Nuclear Accident in 2011. Furthermore, Japan is actively exporting coal-fired power generation technology as part of its economic growth strategies. It’s not surprising that the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) remains one of the biggest financer of coal-fired power plants in the world.

Imported coal in Japan. (Image: Shutterstock)

Organizations in Japan tackling the coal problem

No Coal Japan: Seeing how other countries are already moving away from coal energy, No Coal Japan wants to the Japan leaders, banks, and corporations to withdraw from supporting coal technology.

JCOAL: While the debate goes on whether Japan’s Clean Coal technology is really environmentally friendly, reducing carbon emissions remains a concern that JCOAL wants to tackle.

Fridays for Future Japan: Inspired by Greta Thunberg, Japan established its own Fridays for Future chapters across the country. It saw a strong growth of membership since its inception, and has been very active in educating the public about environmental problems.

Fridays for Future Fukuoka’s Climate March in 2019. (Image: Fridays for Future Fukuoka)

How can we overcome the coal problem

Shifting towards earth-friendly, sustainable electricity

Shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources like wind power and solar power should be considered more.

Setting new CO2 emission standards and new policies

To reduce emissions from coal-fired power generation, various countries are introducing new policies that set CO2 emissions standards and introduce new emissions taxes for coal-fired power generation. Major developed countries including the U.S. and EU countries stress that construction of new domestic coal-fired power plant should utilize carbon capture and storage (CCS). Moreover, banks in the U.S., the EU and Nordic countries set policies that put a stop to financing coal-fired power generation in developing countries.

Tokyo is committing itself to reach zero carbon emissions by 2050. (Image: Shutterstock)

Japan must change its policy to protect its people and the environment

Japan continues to finance coal-fired power plants, even though the negative impacts of coal-fired power generations have become obvious. Japan and JBIC needs to change their policies from large-scale generation to renewable energy. There is the necessity to show Japanese politicians and industry leaders the tremendous environmental, economic, reputational, and political risks if they continue their support for coal.