Japanese Putting All Their Energy Into Saving Fuel

After the 1970s oil crisis, Japan "went into a panic. We have no oil of our own, and are completely dependent on imports," said Takako Nakamura, an official at the Global Environment Bureau of the Environment Ministry. "That weakness changed the way we looked at energy."

The country embarked on a major effort to wean itself off oil. Japan now imports 16 percent less oil than it did in 1973, although the economy has more than doubled. Billions of dollars were invested in converting oil-reliant electricity-generation systems into ones powered by natural gas, coal, nuclear energy or alternative fuels. Japan, for instance, now accounts for 48 percent of the globe's solar power generation -- compared with 15 percent in the United States.

At the same time, Japanese industries dramatically reduced oil consumption. Nippon Steel, the nation's largest steelmaker, has cut its dependency on oil by 85 percent since 1974; oil now accounts for only 10 percent of the fuel used to heat its factory furnaces.

Oil was replaced in part by coal, a cheaper and more abundant fossil fuel. Yet critics say reliance on coal or natural gas remains only a temporary solution, particularly as prices for those commodities have risen along with those for oil in recent years.

That has left Japanese companies to focus increasingly on efficiency and alternative energy. Five of Nippon Steel's 10 factories are now burning used tires and recyclable plastics -- such as discarded grocery bags and bottles -- in addition to coal. Spurred by the Kyoto Protocol, Japan's steel industry has made significant upgrades at its plants. Factories here can now produce one ton of steel using 20 percent less fuel than American steelmakers -- and 50 percent less than those in China, according to the Japan Steel Association.

Some industries have done even better. The paper industry is using waste-based or alternative energies for 38 percent of its power.

"We recognize that there is an important environmental issue at stake, but economically it has also worked out for us," said Hiroshi Nakashima, a general administration division manager at Nippon Steel. "Improved energy efficiency means we need to buy less fuel, and that saves money. Otherwise, we never would have done it."

But energy conservation can have its drawbacks. Back in the cold town hall in Kamiita, for instance, more and more workers are coming to the office wearing surgical masks and taking preventive medicines to ward off winter colds. But it is a fate they brought upon themselves -- a vast majority of the town's workers agreed in a survey that the heat should be switched off to save on energy.

"I think we're doing the right thing," said Masaki Iuchi, the 34-year-old town dogcatcher. "But it's not always comfortable."

Special correspondent Akiko Yamamoto in Kamiita and researcher Robert Thomason in Washington contributed to this report.