| Project main objective(s), goal(s)
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In 1997, the “Law Concerning Promotion of the Use of New Energy” went into force, providing subsidies in the area of new-energy electric power generation with the main goal to cover 3.1% of the domestic energy supply by new energy sources by the year 2010, thus lowering the dependency on fossil fuels.
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| Key issues, background
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In 1974, short after the first energy crisis, the Agency of Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in MITI (since 2001: METI, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) of the Japanese government has initiated the Sunshine Project to develop new energy technologies and to reduce environmental pollution. It was followed in 1978 by the Moonlight Project to focus on energy saving and energy conversion technologies and in 1979 by the project on Environmental Technology. All projects energy R&D in close cooperation between industry, government, and academia. Due to the strong interrelations between new energies, energy conversion, and environmental technology, the New Sunshine Project was started in 1993 merging all previous projects to contribute to an international system based on environmentally friendly energy technologies with the goals of (i) innovative technology development, (ii) international large-scale collaborative research, (iii) R&D on appropriate technologies to assist neighboring developing countries. The New Sunshine Project managed by AIST has become the largest non-nuclear R&D program supported by the Japanese Government. In 1997, the “Law Concerning Promotion of the Use of New Energy” went into force, providing subsidies in the area of new-energy electric power generation with the main goal to cover 3.1% of the domestic energy supply by new energy sources by the year 2010, thus lowering the dependency on fossil fuels.
The WE-NET project was based on these broad programs.
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