Technical Study of Feasibility of Using City Gas Pipelines for Hydrogen Supply Network

摘要

1. Introduction After the massive earthquake that hit the Northeastern region of Japan on Mar 11, 2011, all nuclear power plants in Japan were halted. As a result, energy supply pathways to realize a low carbon society are dramatically changing. On April 2014, a Cabinet Decision was made to adopt the New Strategic Energy Plan in which, 'Future of the Secondary Energy Structure' was presented. A section of this is dedicated to 'Acceleration of Steps Toward Realization of a Hydrogen Society' and says 'As for the secondary energy in the future, it is expected that hydrogen will play an essential role, as well as electricity and heat.' It further describes the plan to deploy hydrogen stations for fuel cell vehicles, starting from 2015. Since about 20% of CO_2 emission in Japan comes from the transportation sector, this is an important step for reducing CO_2 emission. To drive down the construction cost of hydrogen stations, various deregulations are on the way, and hydrogen is becoming a significant element in Japanese society.