TOKYO – Trains in resource-poor Japan are increasingly being powered by renewable energy sources, as their operators seek to do their part in the country’s drive to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 to combat global warming.
About 75 percent of the total energy needed to operate trains currently comes from thermal power generation and Japan’s transport ministry is aiming to roughly halve the sector’s carbon dioxide emissions by the end of the 2030s from 11.77 million tons in fiscal 2013.
In Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo, green streetcars operated by Utsunomiya Light Rail Co. run along a 14-kilometer route on electricity generated from biomass at a local waste incineration plant and solar panels installed on homes.
While the amount of electricity needed is relatively low given the route’s short distance, Utsunomiya city official Atsushi Sugiura said, the total CO2 reduction can reach some 9,000 tons a year if emission cuts from residents switching to trams instead of driving are included.
Another example is the 5-km Setagaya Line in Tokyo, which became the first train service in Japan to run exclusively on renewable energy in 2019, relying on hydroelectric and geothermal power.
Tokyu Corp., which operates the Setagaya and eight other lines in Tokyo and adjacent Kanagawa Prefecture, achieved its goal of making its train services powered by renewables in 2022. It buys electricity certified as being generated from non-fossil fuels to help cut CO2 emissions by around 160,000 tons a year.
Despite its perceived importance, using green energy is often costly for businesses whose electricity consumption tends to be large and ensuring stable supply is also a challenge.
“While we had to shoulder the increased cost of purchasing the (non-fossil fuel) energy, it has been immensely effective in publicizing our decarbonization drive,” Tatsuya Yamashita, a Tokyu official, said. The train operator aims to expand the use of such electricity derived from non-fossil fuels beyond train services.
Other major train operators such as Hankyu Corp. and Hanshin Electric Railway Co., both serving the Kansai region centering on Osaka, as well as Keikyu Corp., which links places such as Tokyo’s Haneda airport and Yokohama, have also begun using electricity certified as being generated from non-fossil fuel sources.
AloJapan.com