• Critics call it costly delay
By Faridat Salifu
In a bid to cut emissions without dismantling its deep-rooted fossil fuel infrastructure, Japan is turning to synthetic fuels like e-methane and syngas.
The country’s major utilities, including Osaka Gas and J-Power, are investing heavily in these lab-made alternatives touted as carbon-neutral stopgaps in the long road to net-zero.
The World Expo in Osaka has become a showcase for these ambitions.
Amid virtual reality displays and costumed mascots, Osaka Gas recently unveiled a small-scale e-methane production plant, capturing carbon dioxide from food waste and combining it with hydrogen generated via renewable energy.
“The beauty of e-methane is that we can continue using our existing natural gas infrastructure,” said Yosuke Kuwahara of Osaka Gas.
For Japan’s utilities, this continuity is a key selling point: synthetic fuels promise emissions cuts without the disruption of dismantling pipelines or retiring gas-fired power plants.
But critics warn this strategy may entrench fossil fuel dependence under a green label.
Related Posts
“It’s not going to result in a reduction in emissions,” said Hiromitsu Miyajiri of environmental group Kiko Network. He points out that burning e-methane still emits greenhouse gases, which must be captured and stored an expensive and unproven task at scale.
Japan is one of the most fossil-fuel-reliant nations in the G7, with renewables accounting for only about a third of its energy mix.
Its geography, history with nuclear accidents, and aging energy infrastructure have complicated efforts to scale up solar and wind. Synthetic fuels, then, have emerged as a politically safer if technologically fraught path forward.
Tokyo Gas and Osaka Gas both aim to replace just 1% of their supplied gas with e-methane by 2030. Government targets envision increasing that share to as much as 90% by 2050.
Meanwhile, JERA, Japan’s largest power producer, is experimenting with co-firing ammonia at coal plants, though early results show high costs and only modest emissions reductions.
Analysts remain skeptical. “As a long-term strategy, it’s really risky,” said Michiyo Miyamoto of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
She argues the nation is prolonging fossil fuel dependency under the guise of innovation, instead of scaling renewables and battery storage.
J-Power’s plan to mix coal and oxygen to produce hydrogen-rich syngas at its Matsushima plant in Nagasaki reflects this same compromise. Officials say it’s key to their 2050 net-zero plan.
But the process still emits carbon—and the solution to store it underground is riddled with technical hurdles and community resistance.
Despite the criticism, Japanese utilities show no signs of slowing. “Thermal power plants will have to be decarbonized,” said J-Power’s Takashi Oikawa. “That doesn’t mean we will shut them down. We’ll try to utilize them as long as possible by introducing new technology.”
