(C) U.S. State Dept
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Powering Diplomacy with Green Energy in Japan [1]
['Beau Miller']
Date: 2024-09
On Earth Day 2023 the U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel stood with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and announced it was “a green day here in Tokyo,” as the U.S. Embassy and our five Consulates throughout Japan switched to 100% carbon-free electricity.
The U.S. Mission to Japan is the first U.S. diplomatic mission in the world of its size to make the switch, noted Ambassador Emanuel, “and we will not be the last.”
In honoring that momentous first step, the White House awarded the 2024 Presidential Federal Sustainability Award to the U.S. Mission to Japan and the State Department’s Greening Diplomacy Initiative.
Why does switching to carbon-free electricity matter, beyond eliminating harmful emissions?
For one, it answers the call of President Biden’s Executive Order 14057, which directs the federal government to procure “100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity on a net annual basis by 2030.”
Another reason is to strengthen the hand of America’s diplomats. When talking to governments, companies, and people around the globe about the urgent actions needed to avoid the worst potential effects of the climate crisis, it is invaluable to be able to point to ways our Department is backing up its foreign policy on climate with concrete actions.
So, what catalyzed Mission Japan’s big switch?
The backstory starts on the island of Hokkaido in northern Japan, where the United States operates a relatively small Consulate General in Sapporo. The city is the world’s second snowiest, with hundreds of thousands of visitors flocking for its annual snow festival and to nearby mountain resorts each winter for seemingly bottomless powder runs. But that future is threatened, with dire predictions about plummeting snowfall due to global warming.
With its 15 American and Japanese local staff, the Consulate, starting in August 2021, drew up an ambitious plan to tap into the region’s significant wind and solar energy resources to decrease its carbon footprint. The Consulate’s 250,000 kWh of electricity each year represented the Consulate’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. But what to do about it?
Consulate staff consulted with State Department colleagues in Washington and local experts on ways to lessen the carbon impact of its electricity usage, rejecting several options as too costly or inefficient. For example, after consulting with the Department’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) Energy Conservation and Sustainability team, the team found that installing rooftop solar panels, while technically feasible, would take years to recoup the investment given the Consulate’s northerly latitude and high annual snowfall.
However, Hokkaido’s retail electricity market and Japan’s government-regulated market for “non-fossil fuel certificates” provided an opportunity to reduce the Consulate’s environmental footprint by transitioning to a carbon-free electricity program while avoiding major up-front infrastructure investments.
After extensive research to compare consumer products, the Consulate selected local electricity utility Hokkaido Electric Power Company’s “Carbon F” electricity plan to power the Consulate office buildings and the adjoining Consul General’s Residence with 100 percent renewable, carbon-free electricity – with only an eight percent increase in the power bill.
The U.S. Consulate General in Sapporo announced the switch to renewable electricity on Earth Day 2022 with a lighthearted video posted to its social media accounts. The rollout came at an opportune time, as the local Japanese government was moving to place Sapporo and Hokkaido at the center of its efforts to transition away from carbon-based fuels, and toward renewables.
And the U.S. Consulate General in Sapporo is not the only federal government entity making green strides in northern Japan. Misawa Air Base, on the northern tip of Japan’s main island, consumes huge amounts of power, ranking 6th highest in energy cost of any Department of Defense installation worldwide.
To balance its energy demands with environmental impact, the base launched a major initiative to self-generate up to 80 percent of the joint-service installation’s energy needs through solar energy and natural gas, markedly reducing the base’s carbon footprint while building operational resilience in the event of natural disaster.
“Before this, I looked at Misawa Air Base solely as a defense partner,” said Misawa Mayor Yoshinori Kohiyama after touring the new clean energy facilities. “Now, I fully appreciate the U.S. government in their efforts to ease the burden on Japan’s power grid.”
Following Sapporo’s lead, U.S. Consulate Nagoya fully moved to carbon-free energy and Ambassador Emanuel led Post’s plan for the rest of the mission, announcing the completed transition on the heels of the G7 Climate, Energy, and Environment Ministers’ meeting in Hokkaido, underscoring the United States’ commitment to “walk the walk.”
Mission Japan’s transition reached millions of readers in Japan and beyond, with many outlets quoting both the Secretary’s and the Ambassador’s 2023 Earth Day remarks. After, other foreign diplomatic missions in Tokyo asked for Mission Japan’s guidance, and the mission has shared its experiences so embassies and the Government of Japan can “go green” together.
As Ambassador Emanuel noted, “Climate change is the challenge of the century, and I am proud of the green legacy that we will leave behind.”
About the Author: Beau Miller. Beau served as the Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Consulate General Sapporo from June 2021 to June 2024.
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[1] Url:
https://www.state.gov/dipnote-u-s-department-of-state-official-blog/powering-diplomacy-with-green-energy-in-japan/?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=news_bar&utm_campaign=greening
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