Learning from Japan's thrift

JAPAN'S offer to help Brunei achieve its objective of lowering its carbon footprint comes at the right time when the Sultanate has been looking for ways to improve energy efficiency. The offer comes from a significant trading partner that relies on Brunei for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Earlier this week, the Institute of Energy Economics in Japan said it was looking to collaborate with Brunei through a "complementing" engagement that would see the Sultanate providing Japan with a stable supply of LNG and Japan sharing with Brunei its expertise in energy conservation.

Brunei has the option to continue to look elsewhere for help in intensifying its campaign to concretise energy efficiency. Japan, however, presents one good source of proven technology as well as experience because of its energy conservation obsession. It is a rich country that is poor in resources, making energy efficiency an everyday pressure to deal with. Specialists have identified Japan to be the most energy-efficient developed country. Energy insecurity has led to policies that have made it best prepared to continue to pursue prosperity in an era of higher global energy prices.

Data from the International Energy Agency indicate that Japan, on a per capita basis, consumed the energy equivalent of less than that of Germany, another energy-conscious country.

It can be daunting to think of how Japan policies have prompted households to keep electricity use to the most frugal level. We are a country that has yet to truly be conscious of the need to turn off appliances when not in use.

But we can learn from Japan's strong domestic demand for energy-saving products. Its struggles with high domestic energy prices paved the way for the invention of household appliances that don't threaten monthly electricity bills. Even Japanese factories have become among the most efficient energy users.

Brunei's export of LNG to Japan puts us in a good position to tap the developed country for our own drive to raise energy efficiency, an objective that complements our goal of making the most of our energy reserves by selling them to the world market.