Tucked into a port in western Japan sits a spherical tank that may soon hold the country’s energy future. The import terminal in the city of Kobe, is slated to get its debut hydrogen shipment in March. Over the next 30 years deliveries of the zero-emission fuel are expected to ramp up exponentially as the world’s fifth-biggest polluter seeks ways to replace its heavy fossil fuel use and meet a pledge to become greenhouse gas neutral by 2050. The monumental shift would require Japan to import the fuel using an armada of specialized tankers, according to Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., the tank owner and the country’s only developer of a hydrogen supply chain. It would also represent a shot in the arm for the nascent industry, which BloombergNEF estimates could meet almost a quarter of the world’s energy needs by mid-century. “Hydrogen is indispensable for Japan to reach the […]