Energy trends in the Japanese transportation sector

doi:10.1016/0967-070X(96)00001-7

Transport Policy

Volume 3, Issues 1–2, January–April 1996, Pages 21-35

https://doi.org/10.1016/0967-070X(96)00001-7 Get rights and content

Abstract

Passenger transportation in Japan, which is comprised of a high share of rail passengers and a low share of private vehicles, is considered one of the least energy-intensive transportation sectors in the industrialized countries. The thesis of this paper is that, despite low per capita energy use, when the intensities of individual modes are compared, Japanese transportation is not more energy efficient. Here, a detailed 25-year energy balance of this sector is analyzed, disaggregating fuel use within the different modes of transport as well as identifying the role of mini-cars and mini-trucks in Japanse transport activity and energy use. Changes in activity, modal structure, and modal energy intensity are separated out to describe energy-consumption trends. (Modal structure is found to be the primary factor behind the current low energy intensity of passenger transport and the high energy intensity of freight.) It is shown, through comparisons with similar data for the USA and eight European countries, that the low per capita energy use for passenger travel in Japan is related to both the low level of travel in general and the great importance of rail and bus, while there is very little difference between the structure of Japanese and European energy use for freight. The increased use of larger private cars and freight trucks continues to raise the energy intensity of the transportation sector, while air transport continues to gain shares in both sectors. Indeed, aggregate travel in Japan is more energy intensive than it is in Europe, and aggregate freight more energy intensive than in either the USA or Europe. Past improvements in energy efficiency were for the most part motivated by commercial concerns. No specific government policies to conserve transportation energy exist, and there is little evidence that policies had any effects on energy use, except, perhaps to increase energy use. The concluding discussion addresses the effects of Japanese transportation energy trends on carbon dioxide emissions.

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A study by Ribeiro and Balassiano (1997) found that the use of private cars for the daily commute contributed almost eight times more to CO2 emissions than the use of urban buses in the Metropolitan Region of the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. Through comparisons with the U.S.A. and eight European countries, Kiang and Schipper (1996) argued that the low per capita energy use for passenger travel in Japan benefited from the higher development level of rail and bus. Another study in China also showed that the proportion of bus travel had a significantly negative effect on CO2 from transportation (Su, Zhang, Li, & Ni, 2011).
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^☆: Work supported by the US Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC03-76SF00098, the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and the Swedish Board for Communications Research, as well as by donations from Volvo AB to the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, by donations from Shell Oil, TOTAL SA, and Conoco to the Energy and Resources Group, and by General Motors Corporation, through a donation to the Institute for Urban and Regional Development, the University of California at Berkeley. Opinions are those of the authors and not those of the sponsors, the University, or the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.

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PaperEnergy trends in the Japanese transportation sector☆

Abstract

Transport Policy

Energy Policy

Trains, lifts and automobiles

New Scientist

Electric dreams take to the road

New Scientist

Modal shifts and energy efficiency

Energy In Japan

The structure and intensity of energy use: trends in five OECD nations

Energy Journal

Internal paper, ‘Energy data and demand of transportation sector in Japan’

Energy trends in Japan's transportation sector

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Report, LBL-35979

A Comparison of Energy Intensity in the United States and Japan

Paper
Energy trends in the Japanese transportation sector☆