Scenarios for removing residual emissions in the context of the mid-century net-zero emission goals in Japan

This study explored key strategies and associated costs of several options to remove residual emissions in the context of Japan’s net-zero greenhouse gases emissions by 2050 on top of carbon dioxide removal technologies which have been taken into consideration in the existing literatures. As scenarios depending on the domestic mitigation options, upscaling of hydrogen-based alternative fuels and energy demand reduction can contribute to avoiding negative emission for achieving net-zero emission goals. While this study explored the possibilities of imports of hydrogen-based energy carriers and emission allowances from the international carbon markets as effective options, these scenarios involve increases in energy and emission allowance imports by 2050, exceeding their import costs in 2010. The results highlighted the importance of developing the long-term low emissions strategies considering progresses on technology development and international policy frameworks, as the scenarios suggested several technological and economic challenges of the net-zero emission goals as well as multiple possible pathways to accomplish them.