Regulatory and policy options to encourage energy efficiency - unido

MODULE 16: REGULATORY AND POLICY OPTIONS TO ENCOURAGE ENERGY EFFICIENCYpage 16.371. BACKGROUNDThrough the energy efficiency efforts of the government and the public, Japanhas achieved the highest level of energy efficiency anywhere in the world sincethe oil crises of the 1970s. However, the weakness of Japan’s energy supply structureremains unchanged, and the level of dependency on Middle East crude oilis higher now than at the time of the oil crises. With the tendency of increasedof energy consumption in the commercial, residential and transportation sectorsin recent years, the promotion of effective and consistent energy efficiency measuresin the future remains essential. 12. LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR ENERGYEFFICIENCY2.1. The Energy Conservation LawJapan’s Law Concerning the Rational Use of Energy (Law No. 49), which wasenacted 1979, and amended in 1999 and 2005, (also referred to as the “EnergyConservation Law”) and the underlying Enforcement Ordinance, EnforcementRegulations, and Evaluation Criteria, establish mechanisms to promote theefficient use of energy in “energy-using” equipment, buildings, factories, andmachinery.Among other things, the Law and related implementing measures establishenergy efficiency targets for covered items powered by electricity and combustiblefuel. These targets are calculated using a complex formula. This formula essentiallymeasures, for each category of covered items, the average energy consumptionefficiency weighted according to the shipped number of the covered itemsin the category.In addition, the Law Concerning the Rational Use of Energy specifies energyefficiency labeling for certain manufactured and imported products.1Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, Japan, www.enecho.meti.go.jp