Japan is joining other nations that have shifted course to use the dirtiest fossil fuel more in the wake of of the war. The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the shutdown at the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Qatar have left Asian nations that are heavily reliant on Middle Eastern energy vulnerable.
(March 27): Japan will allow more use of coal-fired power plants in an effort to boost security of supply to cope with the energy shock from the war in the Middle East.
The country will let less-efficient coal facilities take part in capacity market auctions in the fiscal year starting in April, according to documents from a panel meeting at the trade ministry on Friday. Such plants had been restricted from the auctions — where generators sell supply — to tackle climate change.
