Model evaluation of CO2 reduction technologies in the Asia-pacific region

Global warming is one of the most serious issues in today's world. Various innovative technologies have been proposed for the reduction of CO2 emissions and the mitigation of global warming. They include (1) the WENET project, inaugurated in 1993 by the government of Japan, in which electricity produced by photovoltaic systems in vast areas such as the Sahara Desert, or by hydropower systems, is converted to hydrogen for transport to demand sites, and (2) Steinberg's Hydrocarb process, in which fossil fuels and biomass are coprocessed to produce carbon and methanol. While Japan is resource-poor, it is located relatively close to Southeast Asia and Australia, which are large regions with abundant solar energy. This paper describes an investigation of the prospects for the adoption of these innovative technologies by Japan and surrounding resource regions in the next 30 to 40 years. An optimizing energy model is developed for the purpose, and the simulation results provide several interesting suggestions regarding Japan's future strategy for combatting global warming.