Energy for Japan's new industrial frontier

Systematic responses by the Japanese government and industry to the successive oil crises of the 1970s are yielding remarkable results; instead of the most vulnerable and technologically-dependent energy system in the world, Japanese industry is emerging as one of the world's most energy-efficient and a major source of the most advanced energy technologies. By the end of the century, if best available prognoses on fusion power technology prove close to accurate, Japan's energy industry will have assumed a technological leadership akin to that of its steel industry today. Significant energy conservation has been achieved by concerted efforts to promote less energy-intensive industries and by advances in technology and equipment for reducing energy consumption in key industries. In 1980, the Japanese government set targets for the development of new energy sources for the coming decade, which, if realized, will contribute substantially to a three-fold increase in non-petroleum energy supply by 1990, and a further doubling of alternative energy supplies by the end of the century. By the year 2000, Japanese reliance on petroleum is expected to decline from 88% in 1977 to 74.9%. (author)