Foreword

Summary

This book about Japan's efforts on energy efficiency is part of the ISEAS Energy Series. The issue of energy efficiency has become one of the most important aspects in the global energy outlook today. The depletion of fossil fuels as energy resources as well as global warming as factors in global socio-economic development make it imperative for us to consider energy efficiency policies and measures as one of the most important priorities for policy-makers and every responsible global citizen.

Japan has been a leading country in the area of energy efficiency. Since the 1970s when the oil crisis hit, Japan, which depends almost wholly on imported energy supplies from abroad, has been conducting various efforts on energy conservation and diversification of energy sources. As a result, Japan has achieved the lowest primary energy consumption per GDP in the world. Asian countries should learn from Japan's success in this area, especially since their economic growth is predicted to be one of the primary drivers for growth in global energy demand.

The chapters in this book are based on presentations on Japan's energy efficiency and conservation at ISEAS Energy Forums on two separate occasions. Professor Makoto Nishimura, former Executive Vice-President of the Mitsui Global Strategic Studies Institute Japan, and now an economics professor at the Nagoya University, presented a paper on energy efficiency and new technology from the private business perspective, at the ISEAS Energy Forum on 7 March 2007. Together with Dr Ram Giri, Project Manager of the Mitsui Global Strategic Studies Institute (MGSSI), he addressed the challenges and problems on exporting Japanese energy saving technologies. Mr Yasushi Akahoshi, Executive Director of the Japanese External Trade Organization (JETRO) Singapore, which is the Japanese government agency dealing with cooperation in foreign trade, also wrote a chapter on the policy aspects of Japanese energy efficiency and conservation. This was based on his presentation at the ISEAS Energy Forum on 14 March 2007.