Japan depends on imports for fossil fuel including petroleum, coal, and natural gas, with its energy self-sufficiency ratio of barely 4%. Additionally, the CO2 emission by using the fossil fuel is promoting the global warming. As measures against this “energy problem” and “global warming problem” , “new energy” is effective; thus the Japanese government is promoting the spread of the “new energy.”

The “new energy” is defined by law* as energy that needs to be the most widespread of the “renewable energies” such as biomass, solar energy, wind power, geothermal power, and hydraulic power. As regulatory measures for electric power suppliers to promote the introduction of the “new energy” ,the RPS law (Renewable Portfolio Standard law: special measures law related to utilization of new energy, etc. by electric power suppliers) is available. (* Special measures law related to promotion of new energy utilization, etc.)

The RPS law established in June, 2002 and enforced in March, 2003 is a law to obligate electric power suppliers to derive a certain ratio or more of the electric energy from the new energy. While the supply of electricity such as new energy based on the RPS law was 4.06 billion kWh in fiscal 2003, it was 7.43 billion kWh in fiscal 2007, a 1.83-fold increase in 5 years. Of them, the growth of wind power generation is remarkable, but the power generation by means of the biomass is largest as electric energy generated, accounting for nearly 50% of the whole.

The certified power generation facility capacity by power generation type based on the RPS law is 5,616,438kW (August, 2008), and biomass, wind power, and solar light are large in proportion. The target of gross generation under the RPS law is 12.2 billion kWh in fiscal 2010 and 16 billion kWh in fiscal 2014.

Fig　Electric-Generation Capacity by New Energy based on RPS

Fig Installed Power Generation based on RPS（2008 August）

Cf: Website of Agency for Natural Resources and Energy Agency, keynote speech data (Kenji Yamaji “toward expanded utilization of green energy”) of Green Energy Partnership General Meeting in Fiscal 2009 (May 29, 2009), etc.

• Synthesizing DME (Dimethyl Ether) from wooden biomass
• Introducing wooden biomass fuel facility of the largest scale for co-firing generation of coal and wooden biomass
• Nippon Oil Corporation started the full-scale sales of ETBE-mixed bio-gasoline
• New energy power by the RPS law increased 1.83 times in 5 years
• The Indonesian government doubled the dissemination subsidy for bio-fuel in fiscal 2010
• As for energy consumed in Vietnam, the biomass energy accounts for 46%
• Biotech Park (Bioxcell) will be constructed in Malaysia