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.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS