Economic impacts of Japan’s renewable energy sector and the feed-in tariff system: using an input–output table to analyze a next-generation energy system

Abstract

We construct an input-output table to analyze a next-generation energy system. Based on this table, we estimate the effect of using renewable energy on Japan's economic structure as well as the feed-in tariff's contribution to the cost structure. The results clearly show that, induced by demand, existing power generation options and the production of existing passenger vehicles would be reduced and replaced by electric vehicles (EVs), plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHVs), and the renewable energy sector. Furthermore, the demand for production in the supply chain of these sectors would change. While the feed-in tariff seems to benefit the overall Japanese economy, the benefits are not divided equally among the sectors because the positive effect of the feed-in tariff system is greater than the negative effect in energy and energy-intensive industries, while the negative effect is greater in the service sectors, on which the cost of the feed-in tariff system is levied. However, renewable-energy-induced service activities, such as research and business services, are becoming more pervasive. Therefore, this inequality may be resolved in the long term and could be assisted by policies that accelerate this change.

Analysis of inter-regional effects caused by the wide-area operation of the power grid in Japan: an implication for carbon pricing schemes

“…We developed an Input-Output Table for a Next Generation Energy System (IONGES) which incorporated renewable energy based on a table prepared by MIC (Nakano et al 2017). 3 The IONGES has two types of tables; one incorporates renewable energy sectors that existed in 2005 (2005 IONGES) and the other incorporates renewable energy sectors up to the composition ratio assumed for 2030 (2030 IONGES).…”

Spatial characteristics of residents’ discomfort with disseminated solar panels<i> </i>

“…After its implementation, research on FIT, as income compensation for RE operators, has been conducted in China, and has focused on institutional design (Ye, Rodrigues, & Lin, 2017;Zhang, M. M. et al, 2016), environmental impact (Wei et al, 2019), and the investment-inducing effect on energy business (Liu, Li, & Zha, 2016). In Japan, the research on FIT has demonstrated their large impact on the energy economy (Nakano, Arai, & Washizu, 2017).…”

The Economic Impacts of Renewal Energy on Local Economies: The Case of Solar Energy in Japan

“…We present more discussions on this later in the paper. 10 In addition to these basic variables we have experimented with some additional variables related to renewable energy generation, most of which turned out to be statistically insignificant. We plan to analyze these dropped variables further in our future study.…”

“…We also note that Nakano, Arai and Washizu[10] use Japanese Input-Output tables to analyze renewable energy.…”