Japan Energy Transition

Japan is the 5th largest emitter of CO2 globally and its economy remains largely dependent on fossil fuels. A long-standing area of work charts Japan’s energy transition on a cross-technology and fuel basis.

2026

8 May. Writing. Gas and coal have long tied Japan to Australia. It’s time for a new climate and green industry partnership. The Conversation.

2025

25 Mar. Speaking. Keynote: “The Australia Japan Energy Opportunity”. Australia-Japan Roundtable. Melbourne. [in person]

2024

Writing. Yuma Osaki, Llewelyn Hughes. 2024. Japan: Putting Hydrogen at the Core of its Decarbonization Strategy. Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) Discussion Paper.

28 Nov. Speaking. “Japan is Co-combusting Ammonia in Coal-fired Power Stations: What is it? Will it Work, and How did it Happen? University College London. [in person]

6 Oct. Speaking. “Co-combustion of Ammonia in Coal-fired Power Plants: Mapping the Innovation System”. Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), University of Sussex. [in person]

4 Sep. Speaking. Chair. Energy Security & Transition panel. ANU 2024 Japan Update. Australian National University. [in person]

12 Apr. Speaking. “Renewable Energy & Grid Transformations at Transitioning the Australia-Japan Energy Partnership – Towards a Carbon-Neutral 2050”. Australia-Japan Business Coordination Committee. Adelaide. [in person]

21 Mar. Speaking. “Co-combusting Ammonia in Coal Fired Power Stations: Will it Work as a Climate Strategy?”. Research Institute for Sustainability. Berlin. [in person]

18 Mar. Speaking. “Co-combusting Ammonia in Coal Fired Power Stations: Will it Work as a Climate Strategy?”. European Union Institute. Florence, Italy. [in person]

29 Feb. Speaking. “The Implications of Decarbonisation in the Indo-Pacific for Australia’s Strategic Interests”. Institute for Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ). [virtual]

2023

Writing. Llewelyn Hughes and Christian Downie. 2023. Bilateral Finance Organizations and Stranded Asset Risk in Coal Technology Finance: the Case of Japan. Climate Policy 23 (1), 41-56. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2021.1975622

2022

Writing. Matthew Stocks, Reza Fazeli, Llewelyn Hughes, Fiona J. Beck. 2022. Global Emissions Implications from Co-combusting Ammonia in Coal Fired Power Stations: An Analysis of the Japan-Australia Supply Chain, Journal of Cleaner Production. Vol. 336, 130092. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.130092

2021 & earlier

Writing. Eugene Gholz and Llewelyn Hughes. 2021. Market Structure and Economic Sanctions: The 2010 Rare Earth Elements Episode as a Pathway Case of Market Adjustment. Review of International Political Economy Vol. 28, No. 3: 611-634. https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290.2019.1693411

Llewelyn Hughes. 2021. Revisiting Radical Incrementalism in Japan’s Energy Policy. In The Oxford Handbook on Japanese Politics. New York: Oxford University Press. https:/doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190050993.013.20

Llewelyn Hughes. 2019. Energy Politics and Climate Change. In The Oxford Handbook on Energy Politics. New York: Oxford University Press. https:/doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190861360.013.26

Llewelyn Hughes. 2018. Japan’s Radical Incrementalism in Power Market Regulation and Renewable Energy. In Phyllis Yoshida (ed.) Japan’s Energy Conundrum: A Discussion of Japan’s Energy Circumstances and U.S.-Japan Energy Relations (Washington DC: Sasakawa Peace Foundation, 59-67.

Llewelyn Hughes. 2016. Renegotiating Japan’s Energy Compact. In Carol Hager and Cristoph Stefes (eds.) Germany's Energy Transition: A Comparative Perspective (London: Palgrave), 165-84.

Llewelyn Hughes. 2015. Abenomics and Japan's Energy Conundrum. In Robert Pekkanen, Steven R. Reed, and Ethan Scheiner (eds.), Japan Decides 2014: The Japanese General Election (Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan), 199-210.

Llewelyn Hughes. 2015. Japan's Public-Private Approach to Energy Security Cooperation in Northeast Asia. In Bo Kong and Jae H. Ku (eds.), Energy Security Cooperation in Northeast Asia (London: Routledge - Explorations in Environmental Studies Series), 62-85.

Llewelyn Hughes. 2012. Climate Converts: Institutional Redeployment and Public Investment in Energy in Japan. Journal of East Asian Studies Vol. 12, No.1, 89-118. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1598240800007633