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TOKYO: Japan aims to phase out gasoline-powered vehicles in the next 15 years, the government said on Friday (December 25) in a plan to achieve zero net carbon emissions and generate nearly $ 2 trillion a year in green growth by 2050. .
The “green growth strategy”, aimed at the hydrogen and automotive industries, is intended as an action plan to achieve Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s October pledge to net carbon offsets by mid-century.
Suga has made green investing a top priority to help revive the economy hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and align Japan with the European Union, China and other economies setting ambitious emissions targets.
“The government has set ambitious goals to achieve a carbon neutral society by 2050,” said Yukari Takamura, a professor at the University of Tokyo.
“Setting clear goals and policy direction in the green growth strategy will provide incentives for companies to invest in future technology.”
READ: Japan’s renewable energy sector seeks carbon-neutral windfalls
The government will offer tax incentives and other financial support to businesses, with a goal of 90 trillion yen ($ 870 billion) a year in additional economic growth through green investments and sales by 2030 and 190 trillion yen ( $ 1.8 trillion) by 2050.
A 2 trillion yen green fund will support business investment in green technology.
The plan seeks to replace the sale of new gasoline vehicles with electric vehicles, including hybrid and fuel cell vehicles, by the mid-2030s.
To accelerate the spread of electric vehicles, the government aims to reduce the cost of vehicle batteries by more than half to ¥ 10,000 or less per kilowatt hour by 2030.
Its goal is to increase hydrogen consumption to 3 million tons by 2030 and to approximately 20 million tons by 2050 from 200 tons in 2017, in areas such as power generation and transportation.
The strategy identifies 14 industries, such as offshore wind and ammonia fuel, and targets the installation of up to 45 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2040.
Japan also aims to use renewable energy “as much as possible” by 2050, primarily through offshore wind farms, with the benchmark goal of renewable energy sources accounting for 50% to 60% of the world’s energy. country by 2050, compared to less than 20 percent now, while reducing dependence on nuclear power.
