Coal Mining Technology. The Future Basic Direction of Japan's Coal Policy.

Coal provides the mainstay of alternative energy sources replacing oil, because of its great supply stability and economic advantages Japan depends on coal for 16% of its primary energy supply. In the Asian region, coal accounts for 45% of primary energy, which is considerably higher than the world average of 30%. Coal is an essential energy source for the sustainable economic development of the Asian region. To ensure stable supply of coal for Japan, it is necessary to increase supply of coal to respond to the increase in demand for coal, mainly in the Asia-Pacific region. To respond to the need to ensure stable supply of coal and the environmental problems such as the global warming issue, expectation is placed on Japan to effectively employ its advanced coal-related technologies. In August this year, the Coal Mining Council which is an advisory committee for the Minister of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, made the final report “Suggested Ways of Completing the Present Japanese Coal Policy Smoothly”. The report pointed out that the global coal supply and demand situation is expected to become more strained in the future, and that Japan is the world's largest coal importer, accounting for nearly 30% of the total global coal trade. Because of this particular status of our country, securing stable supply of coal on an international scale still remains one of the top priorities for Japan to undertake, and that the domestic coal mines have an important role to transfer their advanced coal mining technologies to coal producing countries such as China and Indonesia, in order to secure stable supply of coal. This paper describes the outline of the report of the Coal Mining Council and reviews the future direction of Japan's Coal Policy from a viewpoint of energy policy based on the current situation and future global energy supply and demand.