ABSTRACT
It is vital for Japan to control carbon dioxide emissions in order to comply with the Kyoto Protocol, particularly since energy consumption in the private sector is increasing rapidly relative to the industrial sector. In particular, when developing public policies dealing with the potential dangers posed by global warming, it is expected that information concerning the use of automobiles, which have become a necessity for daily life and comprise a large percentage (31 percent) of the carbon dioxide emission per household, 2 will be emphasized and how their contribution to the problem can be quantified and empirically assessed. An important aspect is that the total amount of carbon dioxide emissions directly induced by gasoline consumption remarkably increased by 55.5 percent in Japan during the time period 1990–2004. 3
