Water Resources and Use

Japan, positioned in Monsoon Asia, has rainfall close to twice the world average (although per capita rainfall is one-fifth of the world average due to the country's large population). The average annual rainfall in Japan is 1,718 mm, but in recent decades, precipitation has been on the decreasing trend.

According to "Water Resources in Japan 1998" (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Water Resource Division), the average annual total precipitation in Japan is 650 billion cubic meters. Evapotranspiration per annum is 230 billion cubic meters, leaving potential water resources of 420 billion cubic meters. From this potential, 54.9 billion cubic meters are used in agriculture, 14.8 billion cubic meters in industry and 13.2 billion cubic meters for residential purposes.

From groundwater, 3.9 billion cubic meters is used in agriculture, 4.9 billion cubic meters by industry and 4.0 billion cubic meters for household uses. Wastewater from various uses and stages returns to the ocean via rivers and other flows. This is the overall hydrological picture in Japan.

On the front of water use, according to "Water Resources in Japan 2002" (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Water Resource Division), Japan used approximately 87.7 billion cubic meters of water (amount withdrawn) in 1999, consisting of about 57.9 billion cubic meters for agriculture, about 13.5 billion cubic meters for industry and about 16.4 billion cubic meters for residential uses. Statistics show that total water use has increased by 2.7 billion cubic meters since 1975, a 3.1 billion cubic meter decrease in water for industry, and a 5.0 billion cubic meter increase in water for household uses.

The water used by industry has been decreasing because the recovery (recycling) rate of water has been improving. At present, the water recovery rate is 78.1 percent, a 0.1 percent point increase from the previous year.

The effective water use amount for residential purposes is approximately 14.3 billion cubic meters. Per capita water use per day is 322 litters. Compared with 1974 level, water used for household uses has increased by 63 percent and water use per capita per day by 30 percent.

In households, 20 percent of water is used for washing clothes, 22 percent for cooking, 24 percent for flushing toilets and 26 percent for bathing.

Japan experienced an abnormal drought in 1994 and people living in the western part of Japan, in particular, suffered considerably. In addition, the destruction of the environment by dam construction has been attracting attention.

Approximately 40 percent of Japanese people have experienced cuts in water supply or water rationing and people in general have been increasingly concerned about their water supplies during droughts or disasters. Awareness for water conservation can be seen in a 30 percent increase over 15 years of people who make water conservation efforts in their daily life. About 75 percent of people are for utilization of rainwater or recycled water. About 36 percent say they would be willing to install such equipment in their homes even if they have to pay for it. These results indicate a high level of awareness about effective water use.

People are increasingly aware of water conservation at home. Many attach a small device to restrict the flow to water taps and re-use bathwater for washing clothes and watering gardens.

Japan experienced serious problem with ground subsidence in many areas during the 1960s and 1970s due to excessive pumping of underground water for industrial development. Since then, ordinances and regulations to restrict groundwater pumping have been put in place, mitigating the problem of ground subsidence. Reports of major ground subsidence are no longer common. In fiscal 2000, 7 locations, with a total area of 6 square kilometers, were reported to have suffered from ground subsidence of over 2 centimeters per year.

Japan needs to continue promoting efficient water use in agriculture and water conservation at home and office. At the same time, Japan needs to join efforts to tackle problems affecting water worldwide.

The problem is Japan's huge imports of agricultural crops, industrial products, timbers and other commodities from various countries in the world. For example, Japan's self-sufficiency ratio is only 9 percent for wheat and 5 percent for beans. In order to produce the amount of wheat Japan imports, 1.1 billion cubic meters of water are needed. Over 2 billion cubic meters of water are used to produce the beans imported by Japan. A total of about 5 billion cubic meters of water in the rest of the world is used for Japan's imports of agricultural products. This amount is equivalent to the amount of water used by one third of entire Japanese population of about 126 million.

Japan also imports more than 60 percent of its demand for textile products, which consume a huge amount of water in production. Japan has been one of the major timber importing countries, importing 25 percent of all exports in the world. A calculation indicates that approximately 40 billion cubic meters of water are needed to produce food, industrial products and other items Japan now imports.

How effectively and efficiently we use rainfall in Japan is an important challenge for Japan. But, at the same time, the fact that Japan, blessed with rain compared with many other areas in the world, relies on imports for 60 percent of its food (caloric basis) and over 80 percent of its timber is a major problem for the world. How we can reduce these "water imports" in the form of agricultural products or timber? This is also an important challenge among water issues for Japan.

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(1) Total energy consumption
Japan's total energy demand increased from 285 million kiloliters (oil equivalent) in 1973 to 349 million in 1990, then to 405 million in 2000. The increase is mainly attributed to people's desire for convenience and affluent lifestyles.

The graph that can be viewed at this government website shows that Japan's energy demand has been increasing constantly despite ups and downs of the economic cycle, with only two exceptions (after the two major oil shocks in the 1973 and 1978):
http://www.enecho.meti.go.jp/topics/energy-in-japan/
energy2006Epdf/p34%20_energy2006E.pdf

(2) Energy consumption per unit of GDP
Japan became more efficient, with energy consumption per unit of GDP dropping from the 100 level in 1973 to around 65 in the 1980s after the two oil shocks, but this measure increased just slightly since then, to 67 in 2000.

In terms of energy consumption per unit of economic activity, Japan is among the most energy-efficient countries in the world. The figures for selected countries shown below represent the total supply of primary energy (oil equivalent, in million metric tons) divided by gross domestic product in trillion U.S. dollars (at 1995 prices after foreign exchange adjustment).

(3) Energy consumption by sector
The breakdown of total energy consumption by sector indicates increases in the share of consumption in the non-industrial and transport sectors.

The increase of energy consumption in each sector from 1973 to 2000 (1973=100) indicates particularly rapid increases in the household and passenger transport sectors.

(4) Energy consumption by energy source in the household sector
The table below shows that the most significant increase has occurred in electricity consumption (LPG=liquefied petroleum gas).

What do people use electricity for at home? According to 1999 statistics, here is the breakdown:

Note: Air-conditioner is for heating and cooling, and room cooler is just for cooling.

Here are some of examples of years when the diffusion rates of household appliances in Japanese homes reached certain milestones over the years. (Exceeding 100 percent means more refrigerators than the total number of households in the country.)

With such rapid and extensive growth in the presence of household electric appliances, coupled with a trend toward the use of bigger appliances with more features, household electricity consumption has been increasing rapidly.

(5) Energy consumption in the passenger transport sector
Between 1973 and 1996, the energy consumption by passenger vehicles, buses and railroads to carry commercial has not changed, but for private use in passenger cars it has increased by 303 percent, a major cause of energy consumption increase in the passenger transport sector.

Energy consumption by aircraft has increased threefold between 1973 and 1996, although this category accounts for only about 6 percent of the passenger transport sector.

The table below shows the percentage of energy consumption and actual transportation in 1996.

Passenger cars use almost 90 percent of the energy for less than 60 percent of all passenger transportation. In contrast, railroads, with 3.5 percent of energy consumption in this category, account for almost 30 percent.

(6) Energy saving policies of the government of Japan
59.4% The government of Japan has hammered out measures for each of the greenhouse gases in order to fulfill its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol to achieve a 6 percent reduction from 1990 emission levels. The government's "Guidelines for Measures to Prevent Global Warming," revised in March 2002, are aimed at containing CO2 emissions from energy consumption to the 1990 level and establish four pillars of measures and activities, including energy conservation, new energy, fuel switching, and the promotion of nuclear power.

In the Guidelines, the main strategy to reduce CO2 emissions on the energy demand side is to maximize energy conservation. Specifically, for the non-industrial sector the primary measures include improving the efficiency of appliances, energy management, and energy conservation of houses and buildings; in the transport sector the primary measures include modal shift, efficiency improvements of logistics, and the promotion of public transportation systems.

According to the Guidelines, the government expects to cut approximately 57 million kiloliters (oil equivalent) of consumption by 2010 by implementing these measures.

The government policies and specific measures for energy conservation can be found at the website of Japan's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy: http://www.enecho.meti.go.jp/policy/index.htm (Japanese)

Also, the Energy Conservation Center, established in 1978, provides various information, case studies and guidance for factories, buildings, households, and transport, as well as information on product labels that indicate energy efficiency. It also offers advice by electronic mail to promote energy saving activities in various sectors.
http://www.eccj.or.jp/index_e.html

The JFS Information Center has many articles about activities in transport sector, including the following:

Rail/Bus Corporate Campaign Reduces CO2 Emissions

Better Driving Saves 18,000 Yen in Gas Annually

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport Promotes
Next-Generation "Eco-Ships"

Sharp Accelerates "Modal Shift"

Oki Reduces Its Distribution CO2 Emissions

Electronic Equipment and IT Companies Reorganize
Distribution Systems

Nagoya City to Ban Car Commuting by Public Employees

MLIT Publishes Manual for Environmentally-Responsible Logistics
Management Systems

Food Delivery Truck to Collect Vegetable Waste

The government expects that investing in advanced energy-saving equipment and facilities will foster new economic growth, enabling the country to pursue objectives in both ecology and economy.

The public is counting on the government to implement a range of measures to make further progress, and the private sector will probably continue to try to curb its energy demand in the pursuit of cost reductions. The JFS Information Center adds new articles every day, many of them relating to energy. So please check our website regularly!

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Energy Supply

Japan's primary energy supply increased from 441 million kiloliters (oil equivalent) in 1973 to 526 million in 1990, then to 604 million in 2000.

The table below shows the primary energy supply trends, by energy source.

The table shows that Japan's top energy source is oil. Japan depends on imports for 100 percent of its oil supply, and approximately 80 percent of it is imported from the Middle East. The table also shows that Japan's oil dependency has decreased considerably since the oil shocks of the 1970s, to be replaced by nuclear and natural gas.

Japan's rate of energy self-sufficiency (i.e., percentage of geothermal, domestic coal and natural gas, and new energy in its total energy supply), has plunged from approximately 56 percent in 1960 to 14 percent in 1970, 6 percent in 1980, 5 percent in 1990, then to 4 percent in 2000.

If nuclear power is included in the calculation, the figures for energy self-sufficiency are 15 percent in 1970, 12 percent in 1980, 17 percent in 1990, and about 20 percent in 1999.

Electricity generation expanded from 379 billion kWh in 1973 to 738 billion kWh in 1990, then to 940 billion kWh in 2000.

The table below shows power generation by energy source.

Japan's first nuclear power plant started commercial operations in July 1966. Since then, their numbers have expanded, and as of August 2002, 53 nuclear power plants were in operation in the country, totaling 45.9 million kW in power generating capacity. In addition, four plants (total capacity of 4.1 million kW) are under construction and eight more are in the preparation phase for construction.

Note: In summer of 2002, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the largest power company in Japan, was reported to have conducted improper handling of inspections and repair work at its nuclear power plants, including hiding facts and revising reports to conceal information. After the incident, TEPCO stopped operations of all of its 17 nuclear power plants for checking and inspection. One plant resumed operations on 9 May 2003, but as of the end of May 2003, the other 16 plants have not resumed operations.

As the Guidelines for Measures to Prevent Global Warming stress the importance of new construction and expansion of capacity of nuclear power plants, aiming at an increase of about 30 percent from 2000 levels by 2010, it is clear that the government sees nuclear power as one of the key measures in its strategy.

On the other hand, an increasing number of citizens are becoming concerned about safety and nuclear waste aspects of nuclear power generation, as well as the earthquake threat to nuclear power -- Japan is an earthquake-prone country and one of the nuclear power plants is located in the potential impact zone of a major earthquake in the Tokai area that is predicted to occur some time in the future. Despite the governments plans and measures to promote nuclear, the siting and construction of new nuclear plants has not proceeded on schedule, due to strong opposition from local residents.

Although the Guidelines indicate that "new energy" in Japan now accounts for only 1 percent of primary energy supply, it expresses the expectation that this energy will play a bigger role in Japan's energy supply in a long run. New energy is attracting high expectations for its potential to revitalize the economy and create jobs by triggering technological development and creating new markets.

"New energy" has somewhat of a unique definition in Japan, meaning natural energy sources such as solar and wind power, "recycled" energy such as refuse-derived fuel (RDF), and new ways to utilize conventional energy, such as fuel cells and co-generation using natural gas.

In terms of policy, "new energy" is defined here as 'forms of energy needed to replace oil, that are reaching the commercialization phase from technological standpoint, but have not yet become widely used due to economic factors.' This definition excludes hydro power, which is already in commercial operation, and wave power generation, which is still in the research and development phase, although both are natural or renewable energy sources.

The Guidelines specifically aim for the introduction of 19.1 million kiloliters of new energy production by 2010, by promoting photovoltaic, solar thermal, wind, biomass, fuel cell, and RDF power generation, among other kinds of energy.

The next issue of the JFS newsletter will cover the current situation and activities in the field of renewable energy in Japan.

Data Sources: All data in this JFS article on energy are from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, and the Energy Conservation Center.
http://www.meti.go.jp/english/index.html
http://www.enecho.meti.go.jp/english/index.htm
http://www.eccj.or.jp/index_e.html

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