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Japan has led the world in decoupling economic growth and energy consumption. The factors that caused this decoupling were industrial energy conservation
during the first period, and more recently, energy conservation and saturated demand
for man-made objects.
In this way, the experiences of Japan as a leading country in resolving societal
problems have given credence to the viability of the direction that the world should
pursue. The fact that global CO 2 emissions have hit a ceiling since 2013 suggests
that this model of decoupling can occur in the world.
Essence of the Era of Saturation
Satellite photos have provided us a compelling image of Earth floating in space. The
fact that the Earth’s temperature, which is a basic condition for our survival, can
change because of human activity reveals that the Earth is but a small planet of
limited size and resources. In this finite Earth, human activities cannot expand
indefinitely. Saturation would thus be a fitting term to describe the twenty-first
century.
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Real GDP (left scale, trillion 2005 JPY)
Electricity consumption (right scale, 100billion kWh)
Final energy consumption (right scale, 10
18 J)
Fig. 6 Trajectory of Japan: GDP/Energy consumption/Power consumption. (Source: Created by
the authors based on various materials. Real GDP: “System of National Accounts,” Cabinet Office;
Electricity demand and the final energy consumption: “Comprehensive Energy Statistics,” Agency
for Natural Resources and Energy)
Preface: From “Vision 2050” to “New Vision 2050”