Message from JGA Chairman Mitsunori Torihara on City Gas Restoration Works following the Great East Japan Earthquake Mr. Mitsunori Torihara, Chairman of the Japan Gas Association Restoration team composed of personnel from gas utilities nationwide The Japan Gas Association (JGA) expresses our sincerest gratitude to our friends across the globe for your warmest sympathy and support in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake and following tsunami of March 11 of this year. With the earthquake, Japanese city gas utilities were forced to suspend supply to approximately 400,000 customers. The JGA set up a disaster response headquarters right after the earthquake struck, dispatched advance teams, drafted restoration plans and established a support system. As a result of these efforts, services were restored to almost all regions by April 16 (36 days after the earthquake), and to the remaining regions by May 16 (66 days after the quake). Japanese gas utilities worked together earnestly for the rapid restoration of services to the disaster area. The restoration teams included personnel from 59 (more than one-fourth) of Japan's 209 gas utilities. At the peak, a record high of approximately 4,100 workers were engaged in the restoration works each day, and around 100,000 employees participated in total. In consideration of the ongoing circumstances in electricity supply, revising the energy supply-demand structure with an aim at emphasizing the "Three E's" of Energy security, the Environment, and Economic efficiency, especially Energy security is urgently required in Japan. Japanese city gas industry is expected to play an increasingly important role to satisfy energy demand through further use of cogeneration and fuel cells as distributed generation and as well that of gas cooling to reduce peak electricity demand in summer. It is our firm conviction that Japan will overcome this tragedy and become vibrant again and an even more marvelous country. The Japan Gas Association would like to continue tremendous contributions to enhanced energy security and a swift economic recovery through further diffusion of advanced natural gas use.

Participation in the 11th Round Table Meeting Main participants of the 11th Round Table Meeting Haruki Takahashi, JGA Vice Chairman, delivering a presentation concerning the Great East Japan Earthquake From May 25 to 26, the 11th Round Table Meeting was successfully held in Seoul, Korea. This conference is held every other year in rotation by the associations of gas utilities in Japan, Korea and Taiwan to discuss the latest issues and challenges concerning the business environment for gas utilities. The conference this year was attended by four representatives from JGA including Haruki Takahashi, Vice Chairman, seven representatives from Taiwan and 51 persons from Korea. The programs of the first day included country report presentations and theme sessions (under the general theme "Efforts and role of gas industry on climate change measures"). In addition, there was a keynote speech by Mr. Kim, Director for Gas Industry Division of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Korea and a special presentation by Mr. Takahashi, JGA Vice Chairman, under the title of "Great East Japan Earthquake -Damage from the Disaster and Restoration of City Gas Supply. Country reports were presented in turn by the representatives of the three countries. The report included the current status and the outlook of national energy policies, the current status of the development of gas supply infrastructure, safety measures, R&D, etc.. Participants from Korea and Taiwan have shown a keen interest in the direction of Japan's energy policies after the great earthquake and about how gas is competing with the electric utilities' efforts to convert households to "all electric". The theme sessions were held under the general theme "Efforts and role of gas industry on climate change measures." Representing Japan, Mr. Ken Yamada, Manager of Corporate Planning Department of JGA, gave a presentation that emphasized how city gas industries could help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve energy security by promoting highly efficient natural gas utilization systems. The presentation attracted much attention, soliciting questions, particularly from Korean participants, about the current status and future program of fuel cell deployment in Japan. On the second day, the participants had a technical tour, which included visits to the Seoul City Gas safety control center, gas cogeneration facilities and POSCO Power's fuel cell power plant (MCFC). The next Round Table Meeting will be hosted by Taiwan in spring 2013. Given below are links to the papers presented by Japanese participants. Country Report >>> Current Status of Gas Industry in Japan Theme Session: Efforts and role of gas industry on climate change measures >>> Initiatives of Japan's City Gas in the Context of New National Policies on Energy and the Environment

City Gas Symposium 2011 JGA hosted City Gas Symposium 2011 in Tokyo on June 8. This symposium is held annually to support the exchange of information among city gas utilities and related industries with presentations on the latest trends of city gas industries and on the latest achievements from city gas technological development activities. The main theme for this year was "The development of technologies that accelerate a shift to natural gas," while the sub theme for this year was "The new orientation of energy use and society after the great earthquake and technological development." With ample opportunities for presentations and information exchange concerning the recovery from the earthquake, the symposium provided the visitors with much information on the vision of city gas industries in the future. The symposium of this year began with a keynote speech and then featured: invited lectures by gas appliance manufacturer, panel discussion on the subject of "The new orientation of energy use and society after the great earthquake and technological development," 23 oral presentations, a workshop (on "Smart house and consumer behavior"), 61 poster presentations, 17 award displays (technological grand prix, technological awards and excellent paper awards) and special lectures. The symposium was attended by 1,691 persons from gas companies, JGA affiliated organizations, etc. The next City Gas Symposium will be held in Tokyo in June of next year. Links to two of the papers presented at the symposium which could be particularly interesting for the readers of JGA Newsletter are given below: >>> Current Status of "Smart Metering" Initiatives in the City Gas Industry >>> Secure Power Supply System of a 35kW-Micro CHP City Gas Sales in FY 2010 (excluding the sales by eight utilities in the Tohoku area) Note: The data from eight utilities in the Tohoku area is unavailable due to the Great East Japan Earthquake and therefore excluded from the following statistics. We will continue to investigate the missing data. The total domestic gas sales in FY2010 (for 203 gas utilities in Japan, excluding the eight utilities in the Tohoku area) was 35,266 million m3 (41.8605 MJ/m3), which was 4.3% up from the previous fiscal year. The annual gas sales exceeded that of the previous fiscal year for the first time in three years since FY2007. By sector: - Annual gas sales in the residential sector rose by 1.8% to 9,782 million m3 from the previous fiscal year in spite of reduced demand for water heating in the hot summer, because lower temperatures in spring and winter increased demand for water heating and space heating. (Annual gas sales in the residential sector increased for the first time in three years since FY2007.) - Annual gas sales in the industry sector rose by 5.6% to 17,625 million m3 from the previous fiscal year due to higher production activities and the cultivation of new demand. (Annual gas sales in the industry sector increased for the first time in three years.) - Annual gas sales increased by 2.7% to 4,737 million m3 and by 8.4% to 3,122 million m3 in the commercial sector and in the miscellaneous sector (hospitals, public facilities, etc.) from last year, respectively, as the hot summer raised the air conditioning demand and the colder winter increased the space warming demand. (The annual gas sales in the commercial sector increased for the first time in three years, and in the miscellaneous sector increased for the second consecutive year.) By region: - The annual gas sales grew by the following percentage from the previous fiscal year: +3.5% in Hokkaido, +7.2% in Tohoku, +3.0% in Kanto-Koshinetsu, +7.5% in Chubu-Hokuriku, +5.0% in Kinki, +5.4% in Chugoku, +9.6% in Shikoku, and +5.1% in Kyushu-Okinawa. Gas Facts in Japan 2010

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