On January 25, 2021, Daigas Group (Daigas, Headquarters: Osaka), Osaka Gas’s parent company, released its Carbon Neutral Vision (the Vision), as part of its contribution to the national goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

In the Vision, Daigas underscores the importance of the reduction of CO2 emissions, since technological innovation to achieve carbon neutrality will require significant time and tremendous social costs. The Vision lays out targets to achieve Daigas’ goals and action targets by 2030 as follows:

· Increase its renewable energy deployment to reach a total of 5GW[1] (inside and outside Japan) by developing and owning their energy sources, as well as promoting procurement from others

· Aim to increase Daigas’ renewable energy share to approximately 50% of the company’s domestic energy portfolio

· Reduce annual CO2 emissions from 33 million tons to 10 million tons

Daigas has already contributed to a wide range of research and development activities on the latest technologies, including methanation and hydrogen production technologies. Based on the Vision, Daigas plans to 1) build a hydrogen energy network; 2) decarbonize the CO2 emissions of its gas business by utilizing methanation technology; and 3) reduce the CO2 emissions of its electric generation business by expanding the use of renewable energy. With its new Vision, Daigas will continue to accelerate research and development activities by promoting alliances with various industry-government-academia partner companies.[2]

[1] As of December 2020, the total amount of renewable energy sources that had already been developed was approximately 0.7 GW, including wind, solar, and biomass, both inside and outside Japan.

[2] https://www.osakagas.co.jp/company/press/pr2021/1291446_46443.html