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Energy-Efficient Japan to Host G8 Summit

Posted Jul 4, 08 7:26 AM CDT in Science & Health,  Technology,  World 

(Newser) – Next week the leaders of the developed world will meet at a resort in northern Japan for this year's G8 summit. With oil prices topping the agenda, Japan—by most measures, the most energy-frugal developed nation on earth—is hoping to use the international platform to promote its energy conservation program. As the New York Times reports, the meeting offers Japan a rare opportunity to take the lead on one of the world's most pressing issues.

Japan invested in expensive, high-tech alternative energy solutions during the crises of the 1970s—and kept it up when the cost of oil dropped. Now, for every dollar's worth of economic activity, Japan consumes only half the energy of the US or the EU. "Japan taught itself decades ago how to compete with gasoline at $4 per gallon," said one researcher.

Source New York Times

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Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda points the location of the Windsor Hotel, the venue of the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit, on a map at his official residence in Tokyo, Thursday, July 3, 2008.   (AP Photo/Toru Hanai, Pool)
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, left, looks on as President Bush speaks in the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007.   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
President Bush, right, shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, after issuing a joint statement after their meeting....   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda hold a joint press conference after a meeting in 10 Downing Street in Central London Monday June 2, 2008. Prime Minister...   (AP Photo/Daniel Deme, Pool)
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