Eco-friendly Cars Could Spell Doom for Japanese Fuel Retailers

A rise in the number of environmentally friendly vehicles might force as many as two-thirds of the country's gasoline stations to close within the next 10 years.

March 17, 2010

JAPAN - The increased interest in eco-friendly cars could translate into closure of around two-thirds of Japan??s 40,000 gasoline stations by 2010, the Asia News Network reports. One expert sees the rise in environmentally friendly vehicles as contributing to making some rural areas uninhabitable.

In recent years, more than 2,000 filling stations have closed each year but this number appears to be ready to soar as more motorists are choosing green cars that run on less gasoline or none at all.

The Federation of Petroleum Product Dealers Associations (Zensekiren) predicts that if half of all new car purchases are eco-friendly vehicles and if 20 percent of all cars are green vehicles in fiscal 2020, then yearly demand for gasoline will plummet 29 percent from fiscal 2008, while light fuel oil demand will plunge 15 percent.

"In the worst-case scenario, only about 12,500 of the nation??s gas stations, or fewer than one-third of the current figure, would still be operating in fiscal 2020," said a Zensekiren official.

Rural communities would feel the closure of gasoline stations even more because of residents?? heavier reliance on cars to get around. Filling stations often provide kerosene and fuel for farm equipment, too. Regional and local governments have begun to look into ways to keep gasoline stations running in areas where the lack of one would harm people??s work.

For example, the village of Hinoemata, Fukushima Prefecture, has given its single gasoline station financial support to stay in business. If that station closes, the nearest filling station would be 30 kilometers away.

"Lots of local communities would become uninhabitable if they had no gas station," said Toyo University Prof. Masatoshi Kojima.

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