Energy Sources
| Japan—primary energy use | |||
| Fuel | 1950 | 1988 | 2001 |
| Coal | 50% | 18.1% | 16.8% |
| Hydro | 33% | 4.6% | 4.0% |
| Oil | 17% | 57.3% | 50.2% |
| Natural gas | - | 10.1% | 13.6% |
| Nuclear | - | 9.0% | 14.4% |
| Other | - | 1.3% | 1.0% |
In 1950 coal supplied half of Japan's energy needs, hydroelectricity one-third, and oil the rest. By 2001 the contribution of oil had increased to 50.2% of the total, with rises also in the use of nuclear power and natural gas. Japan now depends heavily on imported fossil fuels to meet its energy demand.
In the wake of the two oil crises of the 1970s (1973 and 1979), Japan made efforts to diversify energy resources in order to increase security. Japan's domestic oil consumption dropped slightly, from around 5.1 million barrels (810,000 m3) of oil per day in the late 1970s to 4.9 million barrels (780,000 m3) per day in 1990. While the country's use of oil declined, its consumption of nuclear power and Natural gas rose substantially. Several Japanese industries, including electric power companies and steelmakers, switched from petroleum to coal, most of which is imported.
The state stockpile equals about 92 days of consumption and the privately held stockpiles equal another 77 days of consumption for a total of 169 days or 579 million barrels (92,100,000 m3). The Japanese SPR is run by the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation.
Read more about this topic: Energy In Japan
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