An Investigation on energy consumption trend in Japan; Transportation sector

Suzuki, Takayoshi*

Although energy consumption in the industry sector has almost been stable, energy consumption in the transportation (passenger and freight) sector has increased after the oil crisis. The increase of energy consumption in passenger sector can be attributed to the increase in transportation by private passenger vehicles; while the increase in freight sector was due to the modal shift to trucks. Among transportation methods, automobiles are now dominant in terms of energy consumption and also in terms of amount of transportation. Therefore implementing energy conservation measures relating to automobiles is very important in order to suppress the energy consumption in transportation. This report summarizes the results of investigation on energy conservation measures, especially relevant to automobiles. The investigation has shown that most promising and effective technologies or measures are promoting market penetration of vehicles satisfying "top runner standard", development and employment of hybrid vehicles, and introduction of vehicles with "idling-stop" systems.