TOKYO: Japan will urge automakers to make all new passenger cars compatible with biofuel in the early 2030s and beyond in an effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from gasoline vehicles, it was learned Monday.

The new target was unveiled by the industry ministry at a subcommittee meeting of the Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy, which advises the industry minister, on the day.

The ministry also plans to ask oil wholesalers to start supplying gasoline fuels with up to 10 percent bioethanol by fiscal 2030 and those with 20 percent bioethanol in fiscal 2040. It will consider making this mandatory under a relevant law.

The ministry will adopt an action plan around next summer. It also plans to support the necessary renovation of gas stations.

Bioethanol is produced from crops such as corn and sugar cane, which absorb CO2 during photosynthesis as they grow. This absorption is considered to offset the CO2 emitted when fuel blended with bioethanol is burned.

In Japan, the transportation sector was responsible for 18.5 percent of CO2 emissions in fiscal 2022, with automobiles accounting for 85.8 percent of the sector’s total. 

JIJI Press