[Grandpa Saw It!] Part 1: Taking a Look at the Revised Basic Hydrogen Strategy!?
My heart is Gen Z! My body is a Showa-era person over 60! I'm Grandpa, a supporter of Gen Z!?
For the past three years, I have been posting about how Japan's land conditions differ from those in the West, and that relying solely on solar and wind renewable energy and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) would delay our climate change goals and weaken our industrial competitiveness.
Finally,"Hydrogen"is about to take center stage in Japan, perhaps?
Well, this time I've taken up the "Revision of the Basic Hydrogen Strategy"that was approved by the Cabinet on June 6th.
✅ Features of the Basic Hydrogen Strategy
If you look at the table of contents of this basic strategy, I think you'll understand why "hydrogen" is the focus now.
Chapter 1: General Overview
Chapter 2: Basic Approach to Hydrogen Introduction
2-1 Basic Approach to Hydrogen Introduction in Japan
2-2 Trends in Hydrogen Policy in Each Country
Chapter 3: Direction for Accelerating the Realization of a Hydrogen Society
Chapter 4: Direction for Hydrogen Industrial Competitiveness
Chapter 5: Direction for Safe Utilization of Hydrogen
What catches the eye in the table of contents is the point that itdescribes the trends in hydrogen strategies of various national governments in detail.
As for which countries are described, it includes 11 countries:1) USA, 2) Europe (EU), 3) UK, 4) Germany, 5) France,6) China, 7) South Korea, 8) India, 9) Singapore, 10) Australia, and 11) Chile.
In other words, while the Japanese government was being swayed by solar and wind power, the world was supporting Toyota's lonely struggle andhad begun to pursue the potential of "hydrogen."
In a sense, since we have been lagging behind global movements,it's as if we revised the basic strategy in a panic, realizing that "hydrogen" is important.
✅ When the US moves, Japan moves!
In June 2021, the US announced a goal to "make 1kg of clean hydrogen cost 1 dollar within 10 years."
Furthermore, last autumn (September 2022), the draft of the "Clean Hydrogen Strategy & Roadmap" set specific production targets, such as 10 million tons/year by 2030, 20 million tons/year by 2040, and 50 million tons/year by 2050, which lit a fire under the Japanese government.
Unlike the Japanese government's Basic Hydrogen Strategy (2017 version), which was all talk and no action, the US, in order to achieve its goals, decided to invest 369 billion dollars (approx. 51.7 trillion yen) in the energy and climate change sector under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA, August 2022), andlaunched a 10-year tax credit for clean hydrogen production, indicating that it would implement a credit of up to 3 dollars/kg.
It's a huge difference from some country that decides on policies but puts off funding, and I can't help but think we should copy the American style ofincreasing predictability for companies and showing a direction where private companies will invest on their own.
When a direction with such high predictability is presented along with budgetary measures, people and money willing to take on the challenge start to gather.
In the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL, November 2021), the government is actively supporting a bold transformation of the industrial structure by implementing bold upfront investments, such as investing 9.5 billion dollars (approx. 1.34 trillion yen) over five years in clean hydrogen-related projects (hydrogen sources, regional hydrogen hub development).
On the other hand, Japan hasgroundbreaking technologies that the world envies, such as fuel cell vehicles that Toyota brought to the world ahead of everyone else by generating electricity by exposing hydrogen to oxygen, and Ene-Farm, which creates hydrogen from city gas for hot water supply plus power generation, but government support has focused only on protecting vested interests.
✅ Panicking because we are also behind China and South Korea!
Not only has the United States loudly announced its "Hydrogen Strategy," but China and South Korea are also steadily advancing their own hydrogen strategies using Japanese technology.
China has formulated a Medium- to Long-Term Plan for the Development of the Hydrogen Energy Industry (March 2022), and has set specific goals for 50,000 FCVs (Fuel Cell Vehicles: which generate electricity when hydrogen and oxygen react, with water as the only waste product) by 2025, 100,000 to 200,000 tons of renewable energy-derived hydrogen production per year, and a CO2 emission reduction of 1 to 2 million tons/year, supporting their realization.
As for FCVs, Chinese and South Korean companies entered the market because Toyota, lacking support from the Japanese government, released its related patents to build global partnerships.
Regarding support for FCVs, China has announced a policy of selecting model city clusters and providing subsidies based on the development of supply chains for vehicles and core components.
South Korea formulated the "Hydrogen Leading Nation Vision (October 2021)," setting a goal of 1 million tons of clean hydrogen production by 2030 and 5 million tons by 2050, and announced the "Act on the Promotion of the Hydrogen Economy and Hydrogen Safety Management (Hydrogen Act)" to begin fostering "specialized hydrogen companies."
Bureaucrats kept appealing to politicians about these moves by other countries, and finally, the Japanese government managed to revise its "Basic Hydrogen Strategy" to increase its effectiveness.
It's late, isn't it?
In the second part, let's take a look at the details.
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