The government in 2009 announced the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020 from the 1990 level. The assumption was that nuclear power would play a central role. In 2010, the government's basic energy plan called for increasing the nuclear contribution to 53 percent of total power generation from 30 percent at that time.
That was before the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant was struck by an earthquake and tsunami. The ensuing nuclear crisis has made it necessary to drastically revise the basic energy plan.
Because Japan will have to rely heavily on thermal power generation at least in the short run, there is the view that Japan should drop its goal to cut emissions by 25 percent.