CHAPTER 7
Betting on Hydrogen: Japan’s Green
Industrial Policy for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells
Robert M. Uriu
Introduction
Utilizing hydrogen gas in fuel cells to generate, use, and store electricity is
an idea that has been around for more than a century. Despite recurring
periods of high hopes, the dream of hydrogen and fuel cells becoming
commercially viable on a large scale has remained elusive. This chapter
assesses whether all of this is about to change. The past five years have
seen a renewal of optimism as fuel cell products in the transportation,
residential power, and other sectors have seen increasing adoption. As
importantly, major national governments in Europe, Japan, Korea, and
most recently China, have made long-term commitments to developing
their national industries.
This chapter focuses on the industrial policies of Japan, which in 2014
became the first nation to commit to becoming a full-fledged “hydrogen
society” by 2050. This was an unexpected policy shift in that many strong
actors in the Japanese energy policymaking process, especially the nuclear
R. M. Uriu (B)
University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
e-mail: rmuriu@uci.edu
© The Author(s) 2021
P. Midford and E. Moe (eds.), New Challenges and Solutions
for Renewable Energy, International Political Economy Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54514-7_7
149
Betting on Hydrogen: Japan’s Green
Industrial Policy for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells
Robert M. Uriu
Introduction
Utilizing hydrogen gas in fuel cells to generate, use, and store electricity is
an idea that has been around for more than a century. Despite recurring
periods of high hopes, the dream of hydrogen and fuel cells becoming
commercially viable on a large scale has remained elusive. This chapter
assesses whether all of this is about to change. The past five years have
seen a renewal of optimism as fuel cell products in the transportation,
residential power, and other sectors have seen increasing adoption. As
importantly, major national governments in Europe, Japan, Korea, and
most recently China, have made long-term commitments to developing
their national industries.
This chapter focuses on the industrial policies of Japan, which in 2014
became the first nation to commit to becoming a full-fledged “hydrogen
society” by 2050. This was an unexpected policy shift in that many strong
actors in the Japanese energy policymaking process, especially the nuclear
R. M. Uriu (B)
University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
e-mail: rmuriu@uci.edu
© The Author(s) 2021
P. Midford and E. Moe (eds.), New Challenges and Solutions
for Renewable Energy, International Political Economy Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54514-7_7
149