For the Ministerial Meeting on Energy Transitions and Global Environment for Sustainable Growth on June 15-16, 2019

＜b＞Accelerate the construction of decentralized energy infrastructure for sustainable growth＜/b＞

12 June 2019

It is very significant that the Ministerial Meeting on Energy Transitions and Global Environment for Sustainable Growth is to be held in Japan toward the realization of a sustainable world. Japan has declared its commitment to: 1) significantly reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions under the “Long-Term Low Greenhouse Gas Emission Development Strategies,” 2) contribute to the reduction of global emissions as much as possible, and 3) utilize approaches that lead to further economic growth. This strategy aims to increase investment in the energy & environmental sector, and consequently to balance environmental protection and economic growth.
Large-scale power generation such as nuclear and thermal power, which has been the major energy investment target, is exposed to serious business risks worldwide going forward. Renewable energy has reduced its investment risk through the FIT system, but it needs to be thoroughly re-examined because of the large burden it places on the public.
Under such circumstances, it is effective to construct, as new investment targets in the fields of energy & environment, decentralized energy infrastructure composed of renewable energy, regional unused energy, cogeneration, etc., based on the premise of balancing environmental protection and economic growth.
Above all, cogeneration, which ACEJ is promoting, can contribute greatly to the realization of a sustainable society. Cogeneration can contribute to the economy, society and environment in many ways through benefits such as "Low carbonization of energy," "Promoting introduction of renewable energy," "Contribution to power systems" and "Improvement of resiliency." For this reason, it truly matches the integrated framework of the Sustainable Development Goals, offering solutions to major challenges that the world faces.
Cogeneration can be expected to evolve further through various innovations toward 2050. Cogeneration will become a key component of the decentralized energy infrastructure with the development of 1) hydrogen-related technologies such as hydrogen supply chain and fuel cells, and 2) smart-society technologies such as VPP (Virtual Power Plant), IOT (Internet of Things) and IOS (Internet of Services).
This meeting, I hope, will increase interest in Japan-based innovation and technologies in the energy and environmental fields, promote investment, and, in doing so, accelerate the construction of distributed smart energy networks and the spread of cogeneration.

Takao Kashiwagi, Chairman
Advanced Cogeneration and Energy Utilization Center JAPAN

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