Japan's primary energy situation that should not be touched upon!

In Japan, it seems like everything, including industries other than the housing industry, is heading straight for "primary energy regulations." However, how many people really understand the meaning of this primary energy?
The energy you use at home is called secondary energy. Gas from a gas field, oil from an oil field, coal from a coal mine... the amount of energy contained in these fossil fuels when they are first mined is called primary energy in the original sense. In fact, this is how it is interpreted in Europe, so for example, if the amount of energy of gas mined in Russia is 1, it is added to 1.1 when it is brought to Germany. This is because it takes into account the input energy and losses during refining, the energy of the pressure pump, and the losses during transportation in a pipeline that can stretch for 5,000 km or so.
In the same way, gas in Japan is extracted from gases in various countries around the world and liquefied by low-temperature, high-compression processing. It is then transported by sea in LNG tankers. Finally, it is vaporized again and sent to each home. If we think about it this way, I think that if we were to add up the figures in Europe, it would probably easily exceed 1.3.
However, in Japan, gas and oil in general are considered to be 2. Gas used at home or kerosene that is XNUMX is also considered to be XNUMX at the mining site, which is a very rough approach. Why did we regulate primary energy instead of secondary energy used in each home and workplace in the first place? We need to understand this. This is because it is primary energy, not secondary energy, that is directly linked to COXNUMX emissions, trade deficits, and energy security.
Let's get back to the point. As mentioned above, oil and gas are valued much more favorably than they actually are. So what about electricity? In Japan, the formula for electricity is fixed as follows: Primary energy = 2.71 x secondary energy. To put it concretely, if you use 2.71 kWh of electricity at home, the power company converts it into XNUMX kWh of fuel.
How did this figure of 1 come about? It comes from a single line in the appendix to the Ministerial Ordinance of the Energy Conservation Act issued in 9.76, which states, "3.6 kWh = 9.76 MJ." In physical terms, this is 3.6 kWh = 2.71 MJ. From this, we can calculate 36.9/15 = 100 times. Additionally, the thermal efficiency of the demand side of Japan's thermal power plants was fixed at 36.9% in 2.71. From this, the figure of XNUMX/XNUMX = XNUMX is derived. This multiplier is a concept generally known as the "thermal power average," and is irrelevant whether it is before or after the nuclear accident.
However, even in Japan, the ratio of coal, oil, and gas power generation capacity has changed significantly since 15. Furthermore, even for the same gas generators, the power generation efficiency of individual equipment has improved as they have evolved into second and third generations. Conversely, there has also been a decline in efficiency as old-style generators that were inefficient and had been shut down have been restarted since nuclear power plants were shut down. Taking all of this into account, even now, 15 years after 13, the ratio cannot be 2.71 times. However, this conversion factor, which is the foundation of all energy conservation policies, has been left untouched in Japan for 13 years.
In Japan, the conversion factor is based on the thermal power average, but European countries such as Germany and the IEA (International Energy Agency) have published conversion factors that include renewable energy. As a result, in Germany, where renewable energy is rapidly increasing, the conversion factor has changed as shown below.
3.6⇒3.3⇒3.0⇒2.6⇒2.0⇒1.8 (2016)
This shows that the environmental impact of electricity is steadily decreasing. Renewable energy is gradually increasing in Japan, but as long as the current calculation method is used, it will not be an appropriate calculation of primary energy, no matter how much renewable energy increases.
By the way, the IEA method, which is the global standard, requires that nuclear power be calculated as 33%, solar power and wind power as 100%. This means that nuclear power is slightly less efficient than thermal power (it emits a lot of CO2), and solar and wind power are considered to be the same as not using primary energy.
In this way, for example, in Germany, the conversion factor is being lowered in line with the increasing proportion of renewable energy every year. As a result, the superiority of electricity is increasing, and the electrification of automobiles is also progressing. If this factor is not properly announced, the efficiency of the entire country cannot be optimized. There will be a lot of waste. However, I have never seen this issue mentioned in the media while shouting "energy conservation, energy conservation." This may be a Pandora's box that should not be touched in Japan.