What businesses can do to combat climate change: Energy conversion and innovative solutions toward creating a decarbonized society

 

Climate change is now perceived to be one of the most serious security risks for governments around the world. Over the last two decades, Japan has allowed other countries to get ahead of it in some relevant fields, such as solar photovoltaics and wind-power generation. Japan depends heavily on imports for the rare earth elements that it needs to produce storage batteries, and some argue that the domestic supply of hydrogen may be insufficient to meet demand. Technology for carbon dioxide capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is still in its infancy, and introducing a carbon tax may not be easy as there are significant political hurdles vis-à-vis the industrial sector.

How industrial and business circles in Japan and the world should go about addressing this situation?

We will discuss how we should utilize novel technologies and develop innovative business models that address the security factor of climate change.