Tokyo Governor Wants Green Hydrogen Pipeline Network for Japanese Capital

Yuriko Koike has announced plans to build a hydrogen supply network of pipelines in the Japanese capital as an energy resource to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.

According to a report from The Asahi Shimbun, the Tokyo governor plans to build a supply system, including pipelines, to receive internationally generated ‘green hydrogen.

Proposals call for constructing pipelines that connect Kawasaki Port in neighboring Kanagawa Prefecture to the capital’s waterfront area to supply Tokyo residents with hydrogen transported to the port from overseas.

Tokyo officials are now weighing research costs for the plan in its fiscal 2023 budget as an initial step in the undertaking.

During the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics held in 2021, the metropolitan government operated a hydrogen station in the athletes’ village in the Harumi district of Chuo Ward in the waterfront area.

Buses that transported athletes and officials to the city-wide venues also ran on hydrogen supplied from the station.

Koike, who previously held the position of Minister of the Environment in the Junichiro Koizumi cabinet from 2003 to 2006, spoke of her green hydrogen aspiration for Tokyo during the COP27 summit in Egypt. She was the first Tokyo governor to attend a COP conference.

During the COP27 meeting, Koike also referred to the capital’s new policy to require large housebuilders to outfit newly built homes with solar panels from fiscal 2025.

“We will submit a bill to revise a bylaw to legislate the requirement to the metropolitan assembly next month, Tokyo will be the first example in Japan to introduce such a system,” she said.

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