Japan’s Trade Ministry Seeks to Double Budget for Energy Savings

(Bloomberg) — Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and
Industry is seeking to nearly double the budget for energy-saving measures to be adopted in places such as factories and
homes as the country eyes improvements in energy efficiency.

The ministry is requesting 242.9 billion yen ($2 billion)
for energy savings for the year starting in April, up from 127.7
billion yen for the previous fiscal year, according to a
document released Friday. Part of the requested budget will be
used to help factories streamline manufacturing processes and
support offices to install equipment with improved efficiency.

The ministry also wants to set aside at least 135.5 billion
yen for the development of clean energy. The allocations include
10 billion yen to support surveys for geothermal power
generation and 4 billion yen for a floating offshore wind
project in Fukushima, according to the document.

As for hydrogen development, the ministry plans to spend
37.1 billion yen to promote the use of fuel cells including
residential fuel cells, compared with 11.9 billion yen for the
previous year.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Chisaki Watanabe in Tokyo at
cwatanabe5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
Iain Wilson, Abhay Singh

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