SWEDEN - JAPAN CO-CREATING TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY
Energy
Theme Partner
Increasing the availability of renewable energy in Japan
Japan's electricity mix today contains only 23% clean energy sources, compared to an average of 37% globally. To enable the transition into crucial green technologies such as electric vehicles, heat pumps, and clean industry, as well as meet its overall national emissions reductions, Japan needs to enable the use of more green, renewable energy across the board.
Some key steps on the way to increasing the availability of renewable energy:
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Expand availability and lower cost of renewable energy
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Enable various solutions for procuring climate-neutral electricity
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Increase support for energy self-generation technologies
Team Sweden and Volvo Car Japan are now calling for partners to join forces in addressing this challenge through common initiatives and advocacy. We welcome renewable energy suppliers, government officials, and companies in Japan facing similar challenges to join the discussion.
Theme Partner
Volvo Car Japan
Volvo Cars aims to be a fully electric car company by 2030. This transformation is a key step to reach climate neutrality across its entire value chain by 2040. However, electrification by itself cannot be a sustainable solution unless the electricity used is produced by clean energy. Life Cycle Assessment of the fully electric C40 Recharge shows a nearly 50% lower carbon footprint when charged with an entirely clean electricity mix compared to a global electricity mix.
In Japan, clean energy only accounts for around 23% of its total electricity. Other than impacting the carbon footprint of electric vehicles, the low availability of renewables is also a major challenge as Volvo Car Japan is aiming to reduce its emissions by 50% in its retail operations by 2025 (vs. 2018). The electricity usage from the over 100 stores all over the country is the largest emissions factor, as it stands for 29% of total emissions. Increased availability of renewable energy is critical in bringing about a more sustainable future for both Volvo Cars and Japan.