- After the oil price crises in the 1970s, the government enacted this Law and implemented measures for the development and introduction of alternatives to oil, including renewable energy.
Oil Alternative Energy is defined in this law as following:Energy other than fossil fuel used for burning (as provided by Ministerial Order by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry); - Energy other than heat that derives from fossil fuel, expect the above; and
- Energy converted from the heat produced by burning of fossil fuel.
Under the Law, the New Energy Development Organisation (NEDO; from 1988, the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation) was established in October 1980. In 2003, NEDO was reorganised as an Incorporated Administrative Agency.