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July 03, 2026
 

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BIOFUEL

A worker refuels a truck at a biogas station next to the Higasinada sewage treatment plant in Kobe in October 2020.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 27, 2026
Japan and India to set up framework for promoting biogas-run cars
The two sides will aim to increase the number of plants in India that manufacture methane from fermented cow dung for compressed natural gas vehicles to 1,000.
A worker in Tokyo collects used cooking oil from a Tempura restaurant in April to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
BUSINESS
Jun 6, 2026
Japan steps up efforts on cooking oil in race for sustainable aviation fuel​​
The world’s fourth-biggest economy estimates it needs about 1.7 million kiloliters in 2030, and hopes to gain as much as it can domestically through used cooking oil.
A worker unloads harvested sugarcane to a sugar mill in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India. Ethanol, made from crops such as sugarcane, rice and maize, is central to India's plan to cut costly oil imports and reduce planet-heating emissions from transport.
BUSINESS
May 6, 2026
Oil price rises bolster India’s ethanol push despite drawbacks
Ethanol, made from crops such as sugarcane, rice and maize, is central to India’s plan to cut costly oil imports and reduce planet-heating emissions from transport.
A mini laboratory at a blending and fuel pump station for the B50 road test in Lembang, Bandung, Indonesia
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Apr 28, 2026
War hastens an Indonesian biofuels push that has global stakes
With energy bills rising due to the Iran war, the Southeast Asian nation is fast-tracking the rollout of a diesel blend comprised 50% of biofuels from its vast palm plantations.
The joint sustainable fuel initiative was released ahead of COP30, which will be held from Monday in the Brazilian city of Belem.
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2025
Japan among countries to target quadrupling sustainable fuel use
Japan and other countries said they will work to quadruple the use of sustainable fuels, such as biofuels and low-carbon hydrogen, by 2035.
Industry minister Yoji Muto speaks during a news conference on Monday in Osaka.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2025
Countries vow to quadruple the use of sustainable fuels by 2035
Biofuels are expected to contribute to carbon reductions as plants used as their raw materials absorb carbon dioxide while growing.
A farmer removes weeds from a soybean farm in Nashik, India, on July 28.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 12, 2025
India’s ethanol drive imperils its push for edible oil self-sufficiency
New Delhi is working to make more ethanol to meet its target of blending 20% of it with gasoline, but the process produces a protein-rich byproduct flooding the animal feed market.
The World Energy refinery in Paramount, California
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 12, 2025
The airline industry’s dirty secret: Clean jet fuel failures
An analysis has found that the airline industry’s plans to go green before regulators start penalizing them are little more than a pipe dream.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends the launch of the Global Biofuels Alliance at the G20 summit in New Delhi in September 2023.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 29, 2025
Delayed pricing policy for cleaner ethanol keeps India burning food for fuel
The Indian government wants petrol sold in the country to contain 20% ethanol by October 2025, and has ramped up production by diverting food crops, but could use waste instead.
A worker collects palm oil fruit in Sepang, outside Kuala Lumpur, in 2014.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 10, 2025
The end of cheap palm oil? Output stalls as biodiesel demand surges
Aging plantations and slow replanting have led to lower yields even as demand for palm oil rises from various sectors.
A gasoline blend containing bioethanol is sold at a gas station in Illinois in December. The United States and Brazil are keen to expand exports of bioethanol to Japan.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 19, 2025
With 2050 net-zero goal on horizon, momentum builds for biofuel in Japan
Experts hope the increasing push for use of biofuels in gasoline-powered vehicles may help shift public awareness on environmental issues.
Suzuki Motor President Toshihiro Suzuki (right) listens to explanations on the use of cow feces as fuel for cooking in Gujarat, western India, on Dec. 25.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 15, 2025
Suzuki Motor eyes cow feces for biogas fuel in India
The automaker is exploring means other than electric vehicles for realizing carbon neutrality.
Indonesia's plan to increase biodiesel mandates to 50% by 2028 could require clearing 5.3 million hectares of forest for palm oil plantations by 2042, an area larger than Denmark.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2024
The year’s worst climate news you haven’t heard about
Not enough floodwaters for dams, more coal burning and demand for Indonesian palm oil show efforts to slow global warming are flagging.
An electrical substation in Tokyo. Japan's total power generation fell to its lowest in more than a decade in the year through March.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 22, 2024
Japan’s power output falls to lowest in more than a decade
The total amount of electricity generated fell 1.6% year on year to 985.4 terawatt hours in the 12 months to March.
Japan will urge automakers to make all new passenger cars biofuel-compatible by the early 2030s, with an action plan from the industry ministry expected next summer.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 12, 2024
Japan to aim for all new cars to be biofuel-compatible in 2030s
The ministry will adopt an action plan around next summer and also plans to support the necessary renovation of gas stations.
A ground crew worker refuels a plane at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Arizona.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 31, 2024
Waste-to-fuel company that raised $1 billion verges on collapse
Fulcrum BioEnergy has recently laid off nearly all of its staff of about 100 and halted most of its operations, according to more than a half-dozen former employees.
Hong Kong and China Gas, part of billionaire Lee Shau Kee’s business empire, is accelerating an expansion of biofuel firm EcoCeres in foreign markets.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 3, 2023
Hong Kong tycoon’s energy empire ramps up green jet fuel push
EcoCeres, one of Asia’s largest producers of green jet fuel, is exploring the possibility of expanding into new markets like the U.S. and the Middle East.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 5, 2023
Industry insiders fear Chinese tropical island may be hub for green fuel fraud
Hainan has become a green-fuel hot spot, accounting for nearly a third of China’s biodiesel exports, but it has no capacity to convert feedstock like used cooking oil into biodiesel.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 28, 2023
Cow manure fuels French tractors
Methane has a much greater climate-warming power than carbon dioxide, and accounts for a huge share of the climate impact from livestock farming.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 16, 2023
How to power a plane with leftover Chinese hot pot
Responsible for around 2% of the world’s total emissions of planet-warming gases, the aviation industry is under pressure to find greener ways to power its jet engines.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
Why is the yen so weak and what can Japan do about it?
Japan spent ¥11.7 trillion ($73 billion) between late April and late May to prop up the weak yen.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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