US officials are touting bioethanol in Japan, which trails other nations on using the green fuel made from corn and other crops.
The US is a top grower of corn and an embassy official said the US would be “a reliable supplier” of bioethanol.
“American ethanol is a powerful tool for Japan to address climate change, support consumers facing high prices and strengthen energy security,” Aaron Forsberg, minister for economic affairs at the US embassy in Japan, told a conference center in Tokyo.
Cooperation on biofuel between the US and Japan is part of a larger partnership between US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in defense, technology and climate change.
A workshop yesterday in Tokyo provided an opportunity for the Japanese government, academics and industry representatives to learn more about bioethanol from US experts.
Bioethanol can be fuel for vehicles and planes, and offers a cleaner alternative to petroleum.
Compared with countries like the US and Brazil, where bioethanol is commonly used, Japan is playing catch-up. The need for alternative fuels has grown more pressing with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and worries about rising oil prices and climate change. Japan imports almost all its oil, as well as its bioethanol. It has denounced the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but has yet to eliminate its Russian oil imports, as it has pledged.
“Japan has set an important goal to be carbon neutral by 2050,” Yuki Sadamitsu, director-general of the Natural Resources and Fuel Department at the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, told the workshop.
Boosting the use of bioethanol would be crucial in realizing that goal, Sadamitsu added.
Forsberg said Japan was among the lowest in the world in its rate of blending ethanol with gasoline at about 1.7 percent and urged Japan to boost that to 3 percent, adding that there was “ample room to grow.”
The US can show how to make the blend while maintaining vehicle compatibility, and discuss costs and benefits, as well as providing a steady supply, he said.
“As Japan updates its transport biofuel policy for the next several years, we look forward to sharing our experience of expanding the use of biofuels,” Forsberg said.
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