Japan's greenhouse gas emissions in fiscal 2013 increased 1.6 percent year on year, mainly due to increased fossil fuel consumption, said the Ministry of the Environment on Thursday.

Japan's total greenhouse gas emissions in fiscal 2013 (April 1, 2013-March 31, 2014) reached 1,395 million ton carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent, up 1.3 percent from the fiscal 2005 levels and up 10.6 percent from the fiscal 1990 levels.

The ministry attributed the main factor for the rise in greenhouse emissions in fiscal 2013 as compared to fiscal 2012 to "increased energy-origin CO2 emissions from the industries sector and commercial and other sector, caused by increased fossil fuel consumption," according to a release issued by the ministry.

The main factors for the rise in emissions in fiscal 2013 as compared to fiscal 2005 are "the increased energy-origin CO2 emissions, caused by the increased fossil fuel consumption accompanying the increase of thermal power generation, and the rise in hydrofluorocarbon emissions from refrigerants, following their substitution in place of ozone-depleting substances," it said.

Since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, thermal power generation, which causes large amounts of CO2, has increased sharply, leading to the idling of all Japan's nuclear plants that previously produced about a third of the nation's electric power.

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