Regional suitability for energy carriers in Japan considering socioeconomic conditions and environmental performance

The implementation of energy carriers, such as hydrogen, is an option for future sustainable energy systems with decentralized renewable resources. Such an implementation requires holistic system changes from energy production to end-use technologies over multiple sectors; thus, for an effective implementation of the energy carriers, region prioritizing is required. The implementation effects (e.g., reduction in greenhouse gas emission and economic performance) of energy carriers can be affected by regional characteristics, but the regional suitability for energy carrier implementation cannot be judged only by the implementation effects. Regions need to have enough driving force to overcome barriers in the implementation. We propose an approach to analyze the regional suitability of the energy carrier based on three criteria, namely the regional scale, the socioeconomic driving force, and the unit implementation effect. Each of these criteria was subdivided into multiple categories for clarifying the analytical basis of regional suitability. The results of the case study in Japan demonstrated that regions can be differentiated by regional positions based on the three criteria. This analysis would contribute to prioritizing regions from the viewpoint of socioeconomic driving forces as well as implementation effects. The analysis can also be used for region-specific strategic planning according to the differences in socioeconomic driving force indicators. The cluster analysis was useful for understanding the relative positions of regions among all regions, identifying regions that have similar conditions, and tracking changes in the positions with different indicator combinations. This cluster would also be used to share knowledge of energy carrier implementation depending on the socioeconomic and energy-related conditions.