Page 461 - Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

Japanese Smart Communities as Industrial Policy Chapter j 21 431

over 20 MW. This goal seems achievable, given HOPE Electricity’s advantage
of being local and its lack of competitors in the region (Kono, 2017, p. 77).
The Higashi Matsushima project is a greenfield development, rather than
the renovation of an existing, or “brownfield,” community. All the same, its
essential elements form a template being replicated nationwide. This template
links local energy endowments (such as rooftop and utility solar) with smart
energy management systems, to decarbonize while maximizing disaster
resilience. The template also seeks to encourage as much local involvement as
possible, to bolster local organization (key to resilience) and business oppor-
tunities. In short, Japan’s approach emphasizes smart governance as much as it
does the deployment of smart infrastructure.

JAPAN’S INCENTIVES
Geography, geology, and demography are among the principal reasons Japan
places a heavy stress on maximizing energy autonomy and disaster resilience
in compact, smart communities. Japan is able to act because it is still the
world’s third largest economy, at JPY 505 trillion (USD 4.7 trillion) in 2016.
The country boasts a formidable endowment of scientific, financial, and other
resources.
Japan is also compelled to act: although Japan’s 127 million citizens made
it the world’s 11th most populous country in 2015, the country is depopulating
and aging more rapidly than any other Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD) country (Below, 2016). The grim facts
on demography give Japan powerful incentives to plan communities that are
sustainable and resilient.
Extreme dependence on conventional energy provides yet another incen-
tive to stress smart and distributed solutions. In 2015, Japan was the world’s
fifth largest energy economy, using 435 million tons of oil equivalent, totaling
roughly JPY 40 trillion in direct fuel costs and ancillary costs. Japan was also
the fourth largest electric power market, consuming 921 TWh in 2015, a
market worth just under JPY 20 trillion (Enerdata, 2016). Japan imported
virtually 100% of the oil, coal, and natural gas it consumed in 2015. Reflecting
its economic size, extreme dependence on imports, and de facto withdrawal
from nuclear power after 3-11, Japan was the world’s largest importer of
liquefied nitrogen gas and the third largest importer of coal and oil in 2015
(EIA, 2017). Table 21.3 shows that Japan imported over 90% of its primary
energy supply as fossil fuels. The increasing geopolitical and other risks (e.g.,
water, disinvestment) associated with nearly complete reliance on imported
fossil fuels is an unsustainable position for a global power.
As for geology, Japan is also a 3000-km long, narrow and highly seismic
archipelago, with comparatively high mountains (2000e3500 m) running its
length. No point in Japan is more than 150 km from the sea. Moreover, the
mountainous terrain is subject to significant rain, which occurs as increasingly