Japan is taking its own “Green Deal” very seriously, it seems. Today, the Japanese government said solar energy and electric cars are the two key areas to focus on on the path to achieving a low-carbon-emission society. Next month, an economic advisory council will present a national growth strategy plan for Japan’s future through to 2020. And green technology is the main pillar.

Yesterday Japan’s Prime Minister Taro Aso said that Nippon must do everything it can to transform into the world’s leading country in areas such as solar energy generation and electric vehicles. In the future, the Japanese government not only wants private places like homes and offices to use more solar power but also public facilities such as schools and hospitals. Here, electric cars should also play a stronger role, the government said.

The Japanese industry ministry expects the nation’s solar power sector, already one of the biggest in the world, to generate up to $105 billion of “economic benefits” in the year 2020 (up from the current $1 billion). 100,000 new jobs in the solar power industry are estimated to be available in the same year, up from the current 12,000.

Via Mainichi [JP]