Japan’s energy supply: Mid-to-long-term scenario – A proposal for a new energy supply system in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake

After the Fukushima nuclear plant accident, Japan is facing an unprecedented situation with its energy supply. This paper provides an overview of Japan’s current energy landscape with descriptions of the kinds and production of energy. Since it is inevitable that the use of nuclear energy will decrease, we shall propose a best mix of electric sources of the large-scale and centralized network as well as the decentralized network as an alternative. The hub for this proposal is regional power centers (RPC) to control the electric supply as well as fuel transportation and storage on an area-by-area basis. As technologies that will realize this power center, we will discuss fuel cells, hydrogen production and storage and furthermore, the potential of CCS, which is requisite technology for carbon dioxide emissions reduction.