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February 1, 2022

“Towards the Future”
Crosstalk: JRE x Sari & Hiroto Ohhara
Part 2

JRE×大原姉弟クロストーク 第二回JRE×大原姉弟クロストーク 第二回

This is Part 2 of a conversation between JRE's Managing Executive Officer Kiyoshi Doi and Hiroto and Sari Ohhara, brother and sister who are world-class athletes in surfing and bodyboarding.
While Hiroto and Sari Ohhara's environmental concerns mainly revolve around the ocean, where they routinely spend their time, JRE works to promote renewable energy as a company. Let's see what they have to say about each other's activities.

JRE×大原姉弟クロストーク 第二回JRE×大原姉弟クロストーク 第二回

Looking to a future guided by renewable energy

Doi :

What do you think of when you hear the term "renewable energy"?

Sari :

Something like hydraulic power, or wind power… Only bits of knowledge I learned in elementary school and junior high school…

Doi :

Japanese people have been using waterwheels, like the ones you see in samurai TV series, since olden times, when people did not have electricity, for milling and other purposes. Besides this, biomass fuels, such as wood for cooking is also a kind of traditional renewable energy. As trees collect carbon dioxide as they grow, energy circulates within this system. More recent examples include solar panels, which have already found their way onto regular household roofs, and wind-power generation, which you also find in Chiba. In the future, offshore wind power, which is generated by wind farms in the sea, is also expected to be put into wider use. Besides these, there are also dams for hydroelectric power generation. Kurobe Dam may be one of the famous large-scale hydroelectric dams. Another renewable energy source is geothermal power generation, in short, energy from hot springs. This is a power generation method in which wells are drilled to pump hot groundwater out of the ground to generate electricity.
Some countries also adopt collective solar power generation. Unlike photovoltaic power generation, solar thermal power generation uses numerous mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto a receiver and generated steam from the heat to convert to electricity. This method is uncommon in Japan, where it is difficult to find large sites and therefore photovoltaic power generation is the most popular in Japan.

Sari :

What percent of households use renewable energy at present?

Doi :

Currently, renewable energy accounts for 18% of the total amount of electricity produced, of which 8% is generated by large-scale hydraulic power dams. This method will not increase because enormous dams cannot be constructed any more. The Japanese government has set the target of increasing the proportion of renewable energy to 36%-38% by 2030.

Hiroto :

Does that mean trying to generate renewable energy in households? Or are the national and local governments going to increase the penetration of renewable energy by constructing more power generation facilities for renewable energy?

Doi :

Both, basically. Most people who build their houses now choose to put solar panels on them. However, it is not easy to install solar panels on old houses. As such, larger facilities built by municipalities and companies like us contribute more to the rising proportion of renewable energy.

Hiroto :

How much more costly is it now to use renewable energy in terms of electricity bills?

Doi :

If you use renewable energy, you'll see a separate renewable energy surcharge on your electricity bill, which will be 800 yen on average for a regular household, an increase of about 10%. This surcharge is the result of the costly facilities being set up during initial mass introduction. However, the cost is getting lower and lower. The goal is to bring electricity bills down to the same level or lower than those for conventional energy. As the penetration rate increases, new innovation will be introduced and with competition between renewable energy generation companies, prices will get lower. For example, LCD TV sets are now far less expensive than they used to be. The more something is produced, the less it will cost. This will also be true for renewables.
We are now developing offshore wind power generation. As sea beds are owned by the country, power plants will be built through bidding. Governments invite bidders to submit their prices to construct power plants in specific areas. As our competitors also participate in the bids, we have to make every effort to propose lower prices to win the right to construct. This is the mechanism that puts downward pressure on prices.
JRE×大原姉弟クロストーク 第二回JRE×大原姉弟クロストーク 第二回

Sari :

How much does using renewable energy actually affect the environment?

Doi :

It is said that if the proportion of renewable energy remains at the current level, which means that we will continue to emit the current level of CO2, the global average temperature will rise by 4°C in the next several decades. This does not simply mean that it would get hotter, but would have countless other repercussions, one of them being rising sea levels. If the temperature increased by 4°C, the sea level is estimated to rise by 110 cm. A 30 cm rise in sea level will result in more than half of the beaches in Japan disappearing. If the sea level rises by 1 m, over 90% will be gone, and not only the coastlines, but also waterfront areas, such as Odaiba in Tokyo, will be largely inundated with water.
In recent years we have witnessed increasing cases of record heavy rain and typhoons. When the temperature rises, there will be even more of them. This will not only drastically change our daily lives, but also put us in danger. If the temperature rises by 3°C, typhoons could occur on a daily basis in the summer.
On a global scale, it is said to be vital to keep the temperature rise under 1.5°C. It may be true that temperatures will not increase if we all stop using cars and electricity, but this is not realistic given the realities of our everyday lives. It's not only the use of cars and electricity, but even our dietary habits have a significant impact on the environment. Cows eat enormous amounts of grass and their burps and flatulence contain a lot of methane gas. They do have four stomachs, after all (laughs). There is even a joke that if all Americans stopped eating hamburgers and replace them with soy meat burgers, global warming would stop.
Although global warming is caused by many different factors, there is data to indicate that CO2 emissions associated with electricity have decreased by roughly 22% compared to 2012. The everyday life that we now know will be completely gone by 2050 unless we reduce our CO2 emissions associated with electricity to net zero when the amounts offset by forests, etc. are taken into account.

Hiroto :

What about the penetration level of renewable energy in Japan, compared to environmentally progressive countries, like the United States and European countries?

Doi :

Renewable energy is already used all over the place in Europe. While Japan is working towards the target of increasing its renewable energy rate to 36%-38% by 2030, the targets set by Spain and Germany are 74% and 65%, respectively. As the target for the entire EU comes out to be 57%, there is a huge difference from Japan. In Norway, which produces a lot of its electricity through hydroelectric power and has a high renewable energy rate, electric cars are also prevalent. One thing worth noting here is that Norway is also an oil producer, which means that the country can keep its oil prices low. Nevertheless, the country keeps its gasoline prices among the highest in Europe through massive taxation with the aim of reducing gasoline consumption. This gives Norwegian people an incentive to buy electric cars. More than 60% of all new cars bought in Norway are electric cars. In this way, there is a national push to curb CO2 emissions.
In the United States, attitudes toward renewable energy differ from region to region and state to state. However, states close to coastlines tend to be more proactive about introducing renewable energy. Take their targets for 2030 for example. California, which already has a penetration rate of 53% now, has set a target of 60%, while New York aims to achieve 70%.
While Japan has developed excellent energy saving measures, it is actually lagging far behind in many other areas. The current reality is that Japan's stance toward coal-fired power generation is criticized by the international community.
JRE×大原姉弟クロストーク 第二回JRE×大原姉弟クロストーク 第二回

JRE's work and philosophy

Sari :

What environmental actions is JRE taking?

Doi :

You could say that our work every day, creating renewable energy plants, is an environmental action itself. At the same time, however, we also feel the need to take various other measures leading to decarbonization. As offshore wind power development—my main undertaking—involves the ocean, we are particularly eager to take actions that to revive the ocean for future generations. For example, there is a recent problem called "sea desertification," which refers to decreasing populations of seaweed. Although this used to be caused by pollution in the past, it is due more to global warming today, as pollution has improved a lot. When the seawater temperature rises, it can cause an overpopulation of sea urchins, which will graze down seaweed beds, leaving underwater deserts. Sea urchins will eat up all the seaweed as soon as it grows. On top of that, these sea urchins barely have any insides. They aren't worth eating so people don't want to catch them, and they remain overpopulated. Furthermore, different species of fish, including harmful ones that eat seaweed, have also migrated from southern waters as the seawater temperatures rise. Seaweed is decreasing due to all these factors. However, seaweed provides benefits, such as purifying seawater and absorbing CO2 as plants. This is the reason we are eager to take action to help restore seaweed.
Such initiatives are already underway, in Chiba too, where people sow spores and seeds, as it is impossible to plant seaweed in the sea, and put up nets to prevent fish from eating the seaweed. There are also people who catch sea urchins and feed them with cabbage on land, as it is said that you can farm delicious sea urchins by doing so.

Hiroto :

What is the ideal society that JRE aims for?

Doi :

Now that I can't go out feely due to COVID-19 and can't do things that I used to take for granted every day, I feel how precious normal life is. Resolving environmental problems, including global warming, will lead to us being able to continue to live our normal lives in the future, and the sustainability of such a future. A future in which our children can live happy lives is what our company aims to make a reality. This is not some fashionable or glamorous future, but one in which everyone wakes up knowing that they can live their day normally, or in your case, in which you two have beaches where you can surf as you have always done.

Hiroto :

Right, because if the sea level rises and beaches disappear, there will be no way for us to go surfing.

Sari :

It would be sad for you too, Doi-san, to not be able to go surfing so soon after you started (laughs).
JRE×大原姉弟クロストーク 第二回JRE×大原姉弟クロストーク 第二回

Influence of international success

Doi :

How do you want to involve yourself in environmental activities in the future?

Hiroto :

Waste reduction is the area I am particularly interested in right now. As our sports take place in the sea, I want to be involved in activities that aim to keep beaches clean. I learned from our conversation today that you can make a difference in solving environmental problems by raising people's awareness. So, I want to work on such activities.

Sari :

We are willing to be actively involved in social action programs mostly because we feel the need to protect the places where we surf and bodyboard. Another motivation is that growing numbers of people are starting to surf now and we want to change their awareness. In the past, if you littered on the beach, more experienced surfers would get very angry at you. However, that's not true these days. We feel like we are in a position to be able to spread the message to other surfers and that we should influence them to make all surfers aware about the importance of protecting beaches.
You shared many new things today that made me realize the importance of taking action ourselves.

Doi :

Both of you are great influencers. I hope you will actively spread information about these issues on social media and by other means.
Lastly, could you tell me about your goals as athletes?

Sari :

I became the world champion in bodyboarding in 2019, and my immediate goal is to regain that title. Actually, I was aiming to become champion in 2020 when COVID-19 broke out and I couldn't practice anymore and events were canceled. As I am planning to go on a tour this year, I am excited to start fresh and ride some waves.
Although surfing is getting lots of visibility these days, bodyboarding, my main sport, isn't as well-known yet. So, I also want to do something to gain more publicity for the sport.

Hiroto :

I competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics last year but did not win a medal. So, my current goal is to qualify for the next Olympics in Paris and win a medal there. I believe I can achieve this goal if I make steady improvement by overcoming one challenge after another, making each year as meaningful as possible.
Another goal is to get more involved in environmental actions by taking advantage of the increased public attention to surfing, as the sport has become included in the Olympic Games now and is gaining recognition like never before. The first step may be to communicate these issues to as many people as possible through social media and by other means as someone representing surfers, and athletes, which I believe is an important thing.

Doi :

I will be rooting for you two and am looking forward to seeing both of you becoming world champions!

Hiroto :

You taught me a lot today. Thank you very much!

Sari :

I learned a lot talking with you today. We will try to be good examples to others. Thank you very much!

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