Fuel Cell Vehicles: Strategy of japanese Government and Private Comopanies

摘要

In retrospect, automobiles have certainly contributed much to the development of society as well as to the economy in the 20th century. However, with the use of more than 76 million automobiles owned, environmental issues such as global warming and air pollution are attracting a lot of attention and are supposed to be solved in the early stage of the 21st century. Global warming in particular is a critical issue. While moving toward ratification of the Kyoto Protocol this year, the Japanese government is tackling the issue by improving fuel efficiency―thus, to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide―with respect solely to automobiles: for instance, the government has introduced fuel-efficient automobiles. As for air pollution in urban areas, the government has been implementing such measures as regulations on exhaust emissions of diesel vehicles and others. Moreover, the government has been aggressively promoting use of environmental-friendly vehicles by adopting a "green" tax incentive for such vehicles.