Fact Finding Survey
Fact Finding Survey
Questionnaires were sent to a total of 3,304 municipal corporations made up of 47 prefectures and 3,257 cities, towns, and villages. The new energy in the questionnaire was classified into 42 categories and they were asked to write about the current state of introduction of each energy. 2,635 municipal organizations sent back their replies (collection rate: 79.8%). Of these, 940 municipal organizations replied that they had developed and used new energy, which was 35.7% of the replies.
(1) Number of new energy facilities owned by nationwide local governments and semipublic corporationsAs of the end of August 1995, there are 2,820 business-based new energy facilities owned by local public organizations and semipublic corporations. Looking at the top energy in use, the best 4 are solar heat, use of waste, photovoltaic power, and small-to-medium-scale hydraulic power as shown below, and these four make up 90% of the total.
(2) Generation capacity of new energy facilitiesThe total volume of the generation capacity clarified in this survey is approximately 3.03 million kW (as of the end of August 1995, the total capacity of facilities currently running is approximately 2.72 million kW and those being constructed or planned are approximately 0.31 million kW). Small-to-medium-scale hydraulic power generation accounts for 78.7% and waste power generation is 20.4%. These two make up 99.1%, followed by cogeneration (0.81%), photovoltaic power generation (0.09%) and wind power generation (0.05%).
(3) Introduction of clean energy vehiclesThe number of municipal corporations in Japan introducing clean energy vehicles are 218, and the total number of such clean energy vehicles is 795.
The introduction of new energies became active with the first oil shock in 1973. It showed rapid growth between 1979 and 1982 (Fig. 1) to peak in 1982 with 242 cases of introduction. It then began dropping sharply until 1988 but has maintained a high level compared to the number before the oil shock.
Since 1950, the total power capacity has been growing linearly to reach approximately 2.68 million kW in 1995 (Fig. 2).
A clear correlation is seen between the number of new energy facilities introduced and the price of crude oil (Fig. 3). Despite the soaring of crude oil prices from the first oil shock to the second oil shock in 1979, the number of such new energy facilities has not increased as much, as this is thought to be just the beginning of introduction.
During the time the crude oil price soared due to the second oil crisis, the number of facilities also increased markedly, and the soaring of crude oil prices were linked closely to the number of introduction.
After 1982 which has been termed as the reverse oil shock, introduction of new energy became stagnant as crude oil prices began to fall steeply.
However, after 1992, despite the leveling off of the crude oil prices, the number of new energy facilities introduced has been growing steadily.
Power companies launched the new energy excess power purchasing system in April 1992, and in June the Earth Summit (the international conference on the environment and development) was held in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, making it a year when global environmental problems drew wide attention. Furthermore, in April 1990, the electric utilities industry law enforcement regulations were revised to relax installation and operation procedures for photovoltaic power generation system and fuel cells. From 1990 to 1993, conditions to spread new energy were established such as the compilation of the "Guidelines on Technology Requirements for the Connection to the Grid System" by the Agency of Natural Resources and Energy of the MITI.
In this way, the introduction of new energies also began to increase with the establishment of policies and system, improved economy (cost reduction of a pv cell), and the attention to global environmental problems.
Fig. 4 shows the change in power capacity according to energy. Small and medium scale hydraulic power generation plays the main role in power generation, while power generation by waste incineration, which emerged around the first oil crisis, has been increasing rapidly in the recent years.
This year, NEF is conducting a survey on new energy facilities of the government and private sector and to compile a survey report (integrated version) on the results together with the last year's survey results in March 1997. To make the survey results available to as many as possible, plans are being made to compile a CD-ROM on survey data with retrieval functions.
Note 1) The graph of the number of new energy facilities introduced and the change in power capacity at the new energy power facilities in Figs. 1 to 4 does not include facilities whose year operation was started is unknown .
Note 2) Crude oil price in Fig. 3: Import crude oil CIF price (Ministry of Finance "Monthly Japan Trade Report").
