|
Japan Energy
Japan lacks significant domestic sources of energy
except coal
and must import substantial amounts of crude oil, natural
gas, and
other energy resources, including uranium. In 1990 the
country's
dependence on imports for primary energy stood at more
than 84
percent. Its rapid industrial growth since the end of
World War II
had doubled energy consumption every five years. The use
of power
had also changed qualitatively. In 1950 coal supplied half
of
Japan's energy needs, hydroelectricity one-third, and oil
the rest.
In 1988 oil provided Japan with 57.3 percent of energy
needs, coal
18.1 percent, natural gas 10.1 percent, nuclear power 9.0
percent,
hydroelectic power 4.6 percent, geothermal power 0.1
percent, and
1.3 percent came from other sources (see
table 20,
Appendix).
During the 1960-72 period of accelerated growth, energy
consumption
grew much faster than GNP, doubling Japan's consumption of
world
energy. By 1976, with only 3 percent of the world's
population,
Japan was consuming 6 percent of global energy supplies.
After the two oil crises of the 1970s, the pattern of
energy
consumption in Japan changed from heavy dependence on oil
to some
diversification to other forms of energy resources.
Japan's
domestic oil consumption dropped slightly, from around 5.1
million
barrels of oil per day in the late 1970s to 4.9 million
barrels per
day in 1990. While the country's use of oil is declining,
its
consumption of nuclear power and LNG has risen
substantially.
Because domestic natural gas production is minimal, rising
demand
is met by greater imports. Japan's main LNG suppliers in
1987 were
Indonesia (51.3 percent), Malaysia (20.4 percent), Brunei
(17.8
percent), Abu Dhabi (7.3 percent), and the United States
(3.2
percent). Several Japanese industries, including electric
power
companies and steelmakers, switched from petroleum to
coal, most of
which is imported.
In 1990, the latest year for which complete statistics
were
available, Japan's total energy requirements were
tabulated at
428.2 million tons of petroleum equivalent. Of this total,
84
percent was imported. Consumption totaled 298 million
tons: 46.7
percent of which was used by industry; 23.3 percent by the
transportation sector; 26.6 percent for agricultural,
residential,
services, and other uses; and 3.3 percent for non-energy
uses, such
as lubricating oil or asphalt.
In 1989 Japan was the world's third largest producer of
electricity. Most of the more than 3,300 power plants were
thermoelectric. About 75 percent of the available power
was
controlled by the ten major regional power utilities, of
which
Tokyo Electric Power Company was the world's largest.
Electricity
rates in Japan were among the world's highest.
The Japanese were working to increase the availability
of
nuclear power in 1985. Although Japan was a late starter
in this
field, it finally imported technology from the United
States and
obtained uranium from Canada, France, South Africa, and
Australia.
By 1991 the country had forty-two nuclear reactors in
operation,
with a total generating capacity of approximately 33
million
kilowatts. The ratio of nuclear power generation to total
electricity production increased from 2 percent in 1973 to
23.6
percent in 1990.
During the 1980s, Japan's nuclear power program was
strongly
opposed by environmental groups, particularly after the
Three Mile
Island accident in the United States. Other problems for
the
program were the rising costs of nuclear reactors and
fuel, the
huge investments necessary for fuel enrichment and
reprocessing
plants, reactor failures, and nuclear waste disposal.
Nevertheless,
Japan continued to build nuclear power plants. Of
alternative
energy sources, Japan has effectively exploited only
geothermal
energy. The country had six geothermal power stations with
a
combined capacity of 133,000 kilowatts per hour in 1989.
Data as of January 1994
|
