Japan CO2 emissions from fuel fall 5.6 pct last FY
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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/TOE6A801N.htm
* CO2 from fuel makes up 90 pct of overall emissions
* 2009/10 greenhouse gas emissions data due in coming weeks
TOKYO, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Japan's emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from burning fuel fell 5.6 percent in the year to March, the trade ministry said on Tuesday, in a second straight annual drop due to weakness in the economy.
Japanese CO2 emissions from burning fuel fell to 1.075 billion tonnes in fiscal 2009/10, the ministry's preliminary data showed, after falling by a record 6.6 percent the previous year.
The government is set to announce preliminary data for overall 2009/10 greenhouse gas emissions in the coming weeks, based on Tuesday's data. CO2 created from burning fuel accounts for about 90 percent of Japan's total emissions.
"In the past two years, we saw the deterioration in the economy playing a key role in cutting CO2 emissions," said Takashi Ishizaki, director of the ministry's energy policy planning office.
But Japan, the world's fifth-biggest greenhouse gas emitter, will have to make further CO2 cuts to meet its 2008-2012 goal under the Kyoto Protocol, as CO2 emissions from burning fuel in 2009/10 were still 1.5 percent above those in 1990/91, Kyoto's base year.
Japan's Kyoto commitments are to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1.19 billion tonnes in CO2 equivalent on average in the five years to March 2013, down 6 percent from 1990/91 levels.
The drop in economic activity accounted for about 55 percent of the decline in 2009/10, the ministry said. Japan's gross domestic product slid 1.9 percent in fiscal 2009/10 after falling 3.7 percent the previous year due to the global financial crisis.
Improvement in the country's nuclear plant utilisation rate to 65.7 percent last fiscal year, from 60.0 percent a year earlier, also helped contain CO2 emissions by reducing fossil fuel use in power generation, the ministry said.
CO2 volumes created from burning fuel are largely affected by industrial activity.
CO2 from chemical reactions and other processes accounts for about 5 percent of Japan's emissions and the rest is made up of other greenhouse gases, such as hydrofluorocarbons used in refrigerators and air conditioners.
Japanese greenhouse gas emissions in the first Kyoto year of fiscal 2008/09 totalled 1.282 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent, final data in April showed, compared with 1.369 billion tonnes in the previous year ended in March 2008, a record high. (Reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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