>>Clean Coal Day in Japan 2010 International Symposium: Tue 7th-wed 8th September
  "Invitation & Program" *8/19 UP*
  

 Please fill in the registration form and send it to the conference secretariat (JCOAL) by email or fax.

Conference Secretariat and for Inquiries;
  Japan Coal Energy Center (JCOAL) Harada, Fujita, Shirata
  Contact to TEL +81-3-6400-5193 FAX +81-3-6400-5207

>>International Symposium: Wed 4th September
 Theme : "Coal - Security & the Way Forward to Zero Emission"
 At Keidanren Kaikan, Tokyo (Ballroom, 11F)
>>Site Tour: Fri 5th September
 To AIST & TEPCO-Hitachinaka Thermal Power Station

 Please open the following files to get more information!
  "Invitation & Program" (PDF File 209KB)*8/8 UP*
  "Registration Form" (PDF File 57KB)

 Please fill in the registration form and send it to the conference secretariat (JCOAL) by email or fax.

CLEAN COAL DAY Executive Committee and Organized by;
  Japan Coal Energy Center (JCOAL)
  The Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF)
  The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan (FEPC)
  Japan Cement Association (JCA)
  Japan Paper Association (JPA)
  Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. (J-POWER)

Conference Secretariat and for Inquiries;
  Japan Coal Energy Center (JCOAL) Inoue, Fujita, Kushida
  Contact to TEL +81-3-6400-5193 FAX +81-3-6400-5207

>>International Symposium: Wed 5th - Thu 6th September
 Theme : "Coal, A Precious Resource"
 -Towards More Efficient and Environmentally Friendly Utilization-
 At Roppongi Academy Hall (Mori Tower 49th Floor, Roppongi Hills)
>>Site Tour: Fri 7th September
 To AIST & TEPCO-Hitachinaka Thermal Power Station

 Please open the following files to get more information!
  "Invitation & Program" (PDF File 200KB)*8/27 UP*
  "Registration Form" (MS Excel File 40KB)
  "Registration Form" (PDF File 44KB)

 Please fill in the registration form and send it to the conference secretariat (JCOAL) by email or fax.

CLEAN COAL DAY Executive Committee and Organized by;
  Japan Coal Energy Center (JCOAL)
  The Japanese Committee for Pacific Coal Flow (JAPAC)
  The Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF)
  The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan (FEPC)
  Japan Cement Association (JCA)
  Japan Paper Association (JPA)
  Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. (J-POWER)

Conference Secretariat and for Inquiries;
  Japan Coal Energy Center (JCOAL) Sakai, Kushida, Yamazaki
  The Japanese Committee for Pacific Coal Flow (JAPAC) Seki, Fujita
  Both contact to TEL +81-3-6400-5193 FAX +81-3-6400-5207

Go to "COAL & SAFETY"

Click here to see more information.

Click here to "Clean Coal Technologies in Japan"

Yoshihiko Nakagaki
Chairman
Japan Coal Energy Center
(President, Electric Power Development Co., Ltd.)

A Happy New Year.
It is a pleasure and honor to give this New Year's Greeting at the start of 2007 to JCOAL members and all those concerned.

Japan is finally emerging from the long recession ? the so-called "lost decade" ? and is showing signs of gradual economic growth. Many companies have mostly overcome the three notorious excesses: plant & equipment, debts and employment. They have almost fully returned to profitability, and are spending more money on capital investment. Although personal spending growth remains slow, the employment market has gradually improved again, while prospects for Japanese society are looking brighter after years of stagnation. However, various concerns persist. Both the US and China, which have been acting as engines of recovery for the Japanese economy, are showing signs of economic instability, while the surging price of energy including crude oil in recent years is a threat.

The energy situation has become even more complex and serious as a result of several factors. The first factor is ensuring a stable energy supply. WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude oil is stuck at a high price of around US$60 due to the increasing energy demand in many countries including those in Asia, the unstable Middle East situation and major concerns about dwindling oil reserves. China and Russia have shown an increasingly apparent trend of using their own energy resources to promote national interests, on the back of growing nationalism regarding resources. Thus, these concerns over the energy situation including the increasing volatility of the price of petroleum and other energy sources and the tightened energy supply and demand are expected to continue to intensify.

The second factor is global warming. With the Kyoto Protocol put into effect in February 2005, little time remains before the first commitment period between 2008 and 2012 to achieve the emission reduction targets. The Kyoto Protocol is the first step of the world�fs efforts to curb global warming. To prevent global warming from worsening, it is essential to stabilize the concentration of global warming gases including CO2 in the atmosphere as soon as possible. To achieve this, such gases must be substantially reduced on a global scale. On the other hand, the world's reliance on fossil fuels to meet the rising energy demand is unavoidable. Solving these conflicting demands at the same time will not be easy.

Regarding coal, which is our principal concern, the price has recently moved downward, although raw coal, particularly hard coking coal used for producing furnace coke, sharply increased in price temporarily. However, the trend of tighter supply and demand for coal will probably continue because of the growing production of crude steel in China and India as well as the limited resources of hard coking coal. On the other hand, the price of general coal has stabilized after increasing temporarily. Nevertheless, there are several factors that could destabilize the supply of general coal: for example, the rigid market dominated by a few coal suppliers, the increasing demand for coal in China and India and the bottlenecks in transportation infrastructure in coal-supplying countries. The move to fully introduce market principles into the coal market is also increasing uncertainties relating to general coal.

The recent energy situation has led to another trend in coal. Thanks to abundant coal resources and the low geopolitical risk in coal-producing countries and economic efficiency, the importance of coal as a resource has been attracting renewed attention. According to recently published IEA/DOE forecasts for 2030, the ratio of coal among primary energy sources will rise to about one quarter, an upward revision from forecasts published just a few years ago. The prospects indicate that coal will remain a key resource in the fuel portfolio. However, the global warming issue will surely limit the use of coal in the mid to long term, and there are calls for reducing the use of coal in Japan. In addition, the Law Concerning the Promotion of Measures to Cope with Global Warming was put into effect in April 2006. This requires companies to calculate, report and announce the CO2 emissions for each of their business units, and will increase social awareness of CO2 emissions. Worldwide, global warming will have a stronger effect on energy issues for the post-Kyoto Protocol, and so it is indispensable to establish a harmonious relationship between coal utilization and the environment.

Japan has made efforts in developing, demonstrating and disseminating advanced clean coal technologies. As a result, the country has developed world-leading environmental technologies, achieving coal utilization which is as clean as that by natural gas in terms of air pollutant emissions. We have also developed efficient energy utilization technologies. Globally advanced high-efficiency generation technologies including ultra-supercritical generation have been implemented to minimize CO2 emissions. Future important challenges are to spread these technologies, to develop next-generation power generation technologies including the integrated coal gasification combined cycle for even higher efficiency, and to complete the development of zero CO2 emission (carbon capture & storage or CCS) technology, which will provide a fundamental solution to global warming. In addition to these hardware development efforts, software approaches are also important. One approach to the transfer and dissemination of clean coal and energy conservation technologies to developing countries is the clean development mechanism (CDM). However, the current CDM requires very strict certification and evaluation and needs to be made more flexible and quicker. Joint implementation (JI) is also expected to be used. In the conference of the Kyoto Protocol parties recently held in Nairobi, Kenya, discussion of the proposal of applying CCS to CDM was carried over to the next meeting. We believe that the proposal should be approved in order to provide wider options for controlling global warming.

In May 2006, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) established the New Energy Policy primarily aimed at ensuring a stable energy supply. In December, the Coal Division in METI founded a Future Coal-Fired Power Generation Study Group focused on global warming countermeasures in coal-fired power plants. An international partnership called Asia-Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate (APP) was set up by six nations: Japan, USA, Australia, South Korea, China and India. Since the APP Ministerial-level Council in January 2006, efforts on developing, disseminating and transferring clean and efficient technologies have continued. Thus, various efforts on the relationship between coal and a stable energy supply or between coal and global warming are gathering momentum.

This is the third year since the merger of JCOAL. We held the Clean Coal Day last year in cooperation with the Clean Fossil Energy task force of APP. Six member countries participated in the event and reported on how they were developing clean coal technologies, and this new event was highly popular. We are now at the critical stage of proving the value of our new organization. We are committed to continuing our efforts to serve you, and would appreciate your ongoing cooperation and support for our activities.

"Advanced Clean Coal Technology International Symposium 2006 PROCEEDINGS"

"Annual Report 2005/06"

"Coal & Safety"

"Click here to these Journals"

Yoshihiko Nakagaki
Chairman
Japan Coal Energy Center(JCOAL)

A Happy New Year!
In welcoming in the new year of 2006, I would like to send a New Year Greeting to all of you, including JCOAL members.

JCOAL will powerfully promote overall activities from the coal mining to the field of coal utilization, as a non-profit organization, toward the stable energy supply, the sustainable economic growth and the reduction of the global environment loads such as CO2 emissions.

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