On October 2, 2019, Japan’s Electric Power Council for a Low Carbon Society (ELCS) published its vision for a long-term global warming strategy, “the Future Direction and Contribution of Japan’s Electric Utilities to a Low-Carbon Society.” The ELCS was established in February 2016, primarily by Japanese electric utilities as well as independent power producers in order to promote effective global warming measures in the power generation sector, while ensuring ‘Safety + Energy Security, Economy, and Environment (S+3E)’. The ELCS’ vision is in accordance with the Japanese government’s two latest energy policies—The 5th Strategic Energy Plan (2018)[1] and Japan's Long-term Strategy under the Paris Agreement (2019)[2], and shares the same concepts to achieve a low-carbon society.
In order to shift to a low-carbon society by reducing CO2 emissions on a global scale, the ELCS plan sets out four basic goals:
· Pursuing a dynamic energy mix to achieve a reliable and affordable energy supply, as well as promoting environmental preservation, based on safety assurance concepts
· Moving forward with low-carbon power and electrification through comprehensive energy savings and an optimized energy mix
· Promoting the development and deployment of innovative technologies to achieve significant CO2 emission reductions
· Reducing CO2 emissions on a global scale through international contributions, by promoting the export of Japan’s low-carbon infrastructure technologies as well as expanding Japanese companies’ business activities overseas[3]
As of August 2019, the ELCS has 47 members, including Kansai Electric Power (KEPCO, Headquarter: Osaka Prefecture), Kyushu Electric Power (Kyuden, Headquarter: Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture[4]) and other electric utilities as well as power producers.[5] [6]
[1] https://www.meti.go.jp/press/2018/07/20180703001/20180703001.html
[2] https://www.env.go.jp/press/106869.html
[3] https://e-lcs.jp/news/4f009a368ebd6e5470ac256416bc2de8a7dbe962.pdf
[4] https://www.kyuden.co.jp/english_company_outline_index.html