• In order to study bioethanol with respect to its production and utilization, verification tests have been conducted in six regions in Japan. Although an increasing number of local governments, NPOs and private sector enterprises have been making efforts to utilize BDF, the scale of its dissemination is rather limited.

• In November 2006, the prime minister directed the concerned ministries and agencies to make concerted efforts to significantly increase the production of biofuel in Japan. In response to this direction, the ministry prepared a progress schedule to achieve a remarkable expansion in the production of domestic biofuel and submitted it to the prime minister in February 2007.

• In the future, according to the progress schedule, efforts should be directed to the development of technology that enables the highly efficient production of ethanol from raw materials derived from cellulose, such as rice straw, wood, and resource crops harvested from abandoned cultivated land.

• The foreign governments have presented the goals of introduction and have introduced supportive measures, including revision of the tax system and funding. In view of the domestic situation regarding the utilization of biofuel, and also overseas trends, we should examine various measures.

Initiatives for the Introduction of Bioethanol in Various Countries

Brazil	U.S.	Germany	Japan
Method of introduction	Direct mixing	Direct mixing	ETBE	Direct mixing, ETBE
Raw materials	Sugar cane	Corn	Rye, wheat	Sugar cane molasses, discarded wood
Mixing ratio	20-25% (Mandatory) Partial introduction of pure bioethanol (E100)	10% (Mandatory in some states) Partial introduction of a blend of 85% bioethanol and 15% petrol (E85)	About 5% (upper limit of ethanol content)	3% (upper limit of ethanol content)

Source: Investigated by MAFF

Notes: 1) Ethyl-tertiary-butyl-ether (ETBE) is a fuel additive for conventional gasoline made from isobutene, a byproduct generated in the process of gasoline production, and bioethanol.

2) Furthermore, the U.S. determined that about 28 million kl of bioethanol would be supplied as automobile fuel in 2012. According to the State of the Union address in January 2007, this assigned amount should be increased up to about 130 million kl by 2017. Regarding ethanol mixed gasoline, commodity tax relief is given at a rate of about 16 yen per 1 liter of ethanol. The EU has established a plan to increase the proportion of biofuel in transportation fuel to up to 5.75% by the end of 2010.

• The emission of large quantities of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere may result in excessive global warming, and there is increasing concern about the serious consequences on the environment. In Japan, the mean annual temperature increases by $ 1.07^{\circ} $ C every 100 years.

• Japan is committed to reducing GHGs by 6% compared to the base year (1990 in principle) under the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). GHGs, however, increased by 8.1% in FY2005 (preliminary figure). In this situation, Japan should promote effective measures to control emissions of greenhouse gases and mitigate global warming by Forest carbon sink.

• Because agriculture has a cyclical function of nature and affects biodiversity in various ways, Japan are promoting efforts of programs aimed at the preservation of biodiversity, including programs for the promotion of sustainable agriculture.

Transition of Mean Surface Temperature Anomalies in Japan

Source: "About Mean Annual Temperatures in the World and Japan in 2006" (published by Japanese Meteorological Agency in February 2007) Note: The normal temperature was defined as the mean of the temperatures recorded for the 30 years from 1971 to 2000.