Dec 08 (Nikkei) - Eighty-eight Japanese companies including Toyota Motor and the country's three mega banks joined the Japan Hydrogen Association that was set up on Monday to encourage the wider use of hydrogen by establishing a fund and supporting new projects.
Members of the association, shortened as JH2A, include hydrogen supplier Iwatani and Japan's biggest banks -- Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Mizuho Financial Group and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
The JH2A aims to address problems around the use of hydrogen, including high costs, the lack of demand and need for investments. Japan has set a target to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Hydrogen is seen as essential in helping Japan reach this goal, because it does not emit carbon dioxide when burned. It could also be used in sectors that has been difficult to electrify with renewable energy, such as mass steel production.
"To realize a hydrogen society, there needs to be vast and various types of capital," such as for infrastructure development, and research and development, said SMBC Chairman Takeshi Kunibe at a launch event on Monday.
He suggested that there should be discussions to create a new system of indirect finance backed by the government, or a scheme to attract green investments from institutional investors. The JH2A plans to set up and manage a new fund.
In addition, the association will lobby for regulatory changes. Toyota Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada said that as regulatory hurdles in Japan are higher than in other countries, he would "discuss with various stakeholders in the production, logistics and uses of hydrogen, and partner with related bodies to submit proposals to the government."
Even as Toyota prepares to launch a new model of a hydrogen-fueled car, Mirai, within this month, it faces high costs in building charging stations, as well as for the car itself and the hydrogen.
Source: ANNnewsCH
