7 BETTING ON HYDROGEN: JAPAN’S GREEN INDUSTRIAL POLICY …
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of the negotiations on climate change that led to the Kyoto Protocol
of 1997. By the early 1990s, public and private actors had begun to
identify the hydrogen technologies that showed the most promise. In
1993, the Japanese government created an initiative as part of its “New
Sunshine Program” that for the first time specifically targeted hydrogen
energy. This New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) run program was named the “International Clean
Energy Technology Utilizing Hydrogen,” but was more popularly known
as the World Energy Network project, or WE-NET. The program was
labeled by the International Energy Agency (IEA) as the world’s “first
major, national (hydrogen fuel cell) R&D programme” (OECD/IEA
2004, p. 147). WE-NET set out comprehensive goals in all aspects of
hydrogen technology, from generation, to transport, storage, and utilization. Budgetary support was US$3 billion but was spread out over a
period of 28 years, through 2020. Perhaps as important as the amount
of funding, however, was that a government had for the first time made
a clear, long-term commitment to the technology (Okano 2016, p. 70;
Hirai 1997, pp. 1–2).
By the late 1990s, with companies making progress on developing
new products, Japanese policy shifted from basic research to the second
stage, support for commercialization. In December 1999 the Director
General of ANRE agreed to create the “Policy Study Group for Fuel Cell
Commercialization,” an advisory group composed of representatives of
the major auto and electronics firms, the main utilities and petroleum
companies, as well as academic advisors and governmental officials. 7 As
its name implies, the group’s purpose was to pursue more active efforts
to bring fuel cell products to market.
As a result of these recommendations, the government in March
2001 created an important consortium, the Fuel Cell Commercialization
Conference of Japan (FCCJ) to offer advice and policy guidance. The
FCCJ was an expanded version of the Policy Study Group. It was chaired
by the CEO of Toshiba, with vice chairs representing the main sectors
involved in the sector, namely an auto firm (Toyota), a consumer electronics firm (Matsushita), a petroleum firm (Japan Petroleum), and a gas
utility (Tokyo Gas). The group included 112 other firms or industry associations, representing a range of automobile firms, electronics makers, and
private energy firms—in short, all private sector actors that had an interest
in commercializing hydrogen or fuel cell technologies. It is important to
155
of the negotiations on climate change that led to the Kyoto Protocol
of 1997. By the early 1990s, public and private actors had begun to
identify the hydrogen technologies that showed the most promise. In
1993, the Japanese government created an initiative as part of its “New
Sunshine Program” that for the first time specifically targeted hydrogen
energy. This New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) run program was named the “International Clean
Energy Technology Utilizing Hydrogen,” but was more popularly known
as the World Energy Network project, or WE-NET. The program was
labeled by the International Energy Agency (IEA) as the world’s “first
major, national (hydrogen fuel cell) R&D programme” (OECD/IEA
2004, p. 147). WE-NET set out comprehensive goals in all aspects of
hydrogen technology, from generation, to transport, storage, and utilization. Budgetary support was US$3 billion but was spread out over a
period of 28 years, through 2020. Perhaps as important as the amount
of funding, however, was that a government had for the first time made
a clear, long-term commitment to the technology (Okano 2016, p. 70;
Hirai 1997, pp. 1–2).
By the late 1990s, with companies making progress on developing
new products, Japanese policy shifted from basic research to the second
stage, support for commercialization. In December 1999 the Director
General of ANRE agreed to create the “Policy Study Group for Fuel Cell
Commercialization,” an advisory group composed of representatives of
the major auto and electronics firms, the main utilities and petroleum
companies, as well as academic advisors and governmental officials. 7 As
its name implies, the group’s purpose was to pursue more active efforts
to bring fuel cell products to market.
As a result of these recommendations, the government in March
2001 created an important consortium, the Fuel Cell Commercialization
Conference of Japan (FCCJ) to offer advice and policy guidance. The
FCCJ was an expanded version of the Policy Study Group. It was chaired
by the CEO of Toshiba, with vice chairs representing the main sectors
involved in the sector, namely an auto firm (Toyota), a consumer electronics firm (Matsushita), a petroleum firm (Japan Petroleum), and a gas
utility (Tokyo Gas). The group included 112 other firms or industry associations, representing a range of automobile firms, electronics makers, and
private energy firms—in short, all private sector actors that had an interest
in commercializing hydrogen or fuel cell technologies. It is important to