Low Carbon Urban Infrastructure Investment in Asian Cities

ECONOMIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT ON LOW-CARBON INVESTMENT... 79

energy investment in Yokohama. To determine the impact of renewable
energy expansion in Yokohama, economic transactions are assessed using a
city input–output table.
This chapter is structured as follows. First, literature reviews of economic
impacts related to domestic Japanese renewable energy sectors and
corresponding sectors in Yokohama are presented in Sect.  5.2. Second,
data and methodologies used in this study to assess the economic impact
of low-carbon investments in the renewable energy sectors in Yokohama
are presented in Sect.  5.3. Third, our results and a discussion based on
input–output analyses on low-carbon investments in renewable energy sec-
tors are presented in Sect.  5.4. Fourth, we present our study’s conclusions
in Sect.  5.5.

5.2 LITERATURE REVIEWS

5.2.1 Economic Effects of Renewable Energy Introduction

A low-carbon scenario study was conducted in 2004 in Japan, and a report
on Scenarios and Actions towards Low-Carbon Societies (LCS) was
published in 2007 (NIES 2008 ). In the LCS study report, mitigation
potentials for the country were assessed and identifi ed, and the fi ndings
showed that to form a low-carbon society, energy conservation efforts on
the demand side and the reallocation of conventional energy systems to
low-carbon sources (e.g., renewable energy) on the energy supply side
would play a key role (NIES 2008 ; Skea and Nishioka 2008 ). The report
estimates that in reducing CO 2 emissions by 70 % by 2050 from 1990
levels, wind and nuclear power generation could enhance 30 % reductions
in CO 2 emissions from the 70 % reduction target (NIES 2008 ). However,
in reality, although nuclear power generation has been questioned in terms
of social security, safety, and cost considerations since the Fukushima
nuclear accident, a substantial expansion of renewable energy supplies has
not been realized, with a mere increase of 0.62 to 0.84 (10^18 J) occurring
from 2005 to 2010 (METI 2014 ).
Numerous studies on the effects of renewable energy investments have
been conducted. Such studies have employed input–output tables in
examining job creation effects, economic benefi ts, CO 2 emission reduction
outcomes, and energy security levels (IRENA 2013 ; STFC 2013 ). In
Japan—and particularly following the Fukushima nuclear accident—numer-
ous studies have estimated the effects of renewable energy investment