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.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) launched a week-long diplomatic blitz of South America on Thursday by inaugurating a massive deep-water port in Peru, a US$1.3 billion investment by Beijing as it seeks to expand trade and influence on the continent. With China’s demand for agricultural goods and metals from Latin America growing, Xi will participate in the APEC summit in Lima then head to the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro next week, where he will also make a state visit to Brazil. Xi and Peruvian President Dina Boluarte participated on Thursday by video link in the opening
‘HARD-HEADED’: Some people did not evacuate to protect their property or because they were skeptical of the warnings, a disaster agency official said Typhoon Man-yi yesterday slammed into the Philippines’ most populous island, with the national weather service warning of flooding, landslides and huge waves as the storm sweeps across the archipelago nation. Man-yi was still packing maximum sustained winds of 185kph after making its first landfall late on Saturday on lightly populated Catanduanes island. More than 1.2 million people fled their homes ahead of Man-yi as the weather forecaster warned of a “life-threatening” effect from the powerful storm, which follows an unusual streak of violent weather. Man-yi uprooted trees, brought down power lines and smashed flimsy houses to pieces after hitting Catanduanes in the typhoon-prone
HOPEFUL FOR PEACE: Zelenskiy said that the war would ‘end sooner’ with Trump and that Ukraine must do all it can to ensure the fighting ends next year Russia’s state-owned gas company Gazprom early yesterday suspended gas deliveries via Ukraine, Vienna-based utility OMV said, in a development that signals a fast-approaching end of Moscow’s last gas flows to Europe. Russia’s oldest gas-export route to Europe, a pipeline dating back to Soviet days via Ukraine, is set to shut at the end of this year. Ukraine has said it would not extend the transit agreement with Russian state-owned Gazprom to deprive Russia of profits that Kyiv says help to finance the war against it. Moscow’s suspension of gas for Austria, the main receiver of gas via Ukraine, means Russia now only
‘HUGS NOT WORKING’: Ken Salazar said that the bodies of people killed by violence ‘can be seen everywhere’ and that the nation’s leaders were downplaying the issue Mexico failed to accept aid in its fight against drug cartels and “closed the doors” on security cooperation with Washington, US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar told a news conference in Mexico City on Wednesday. Salazar said there was rampant violence, police corruption and that the Mexican government had the mistaken attitude that “there is no problem.” “When they just say: ‘There is no problem, we have these statistics to show people there is no problem,’ that is not based on reality,” Salazar said. “There is a very big problem.” Mexico sent a diplomatic note to the US embassy “expressing its surprise” at
RSS