If Japan is to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 as targeted by the government, it would have to build one nuclear power plant every year, International Energy Agency Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka said Friday.
Japan would also have to raise the average capacity utilization of its nuclear plants to 90 percent from the present level of around 70 percent to achieve the goal, the official of the Paris-based organization of 28 oil-consuming nations told a news conference in Tokyo.
"Japan has little room to depend on energy conservation to cut greenhouse gas emissions compared with other countries," Tanaka said, emphasizing the need for the country to utilize nuclear energy to reduce emissions.
Tanaka, a former official of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, expressed doubt about the ruling Democratic Party of Japan's plan to effectively cut the gasoline tax, which is already relatively low compared with other advanced nations, by abolishing the provisional portion of the tax. "Normally, Japan should be raising the tax to save gasoline" and help prevent global warming, he said.