2011vol. 06

Annual Report■Foreword
Enjoy Your Research Life

01

Kenji Yamaji
Director-General, Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth■R&D Activities
Research Planning Group

Technology Strategy Map on CO2 Fixation and Effective
Utilization

02

Systems Analysis Group

Synthetic Scenario Development for Climate Change
Control and Sustainable Development

07

Molecular Microbiology andBiotechnology Group

Global Biorefinery Trends and Research Overview

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Chemical Research Group

Challenges for Advanced Industrializing CO2 CaptureTechnologies

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CO2 Storage Research Group

CO2 Storage Technology Development for Practical
Application

19■Topics

22■2010 Paper, Presentation and Publication

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Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the EarthForeword

Enjoy Your Research Life
Kenji Yamaji, Director-General,
Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth

Major challenges in the 21st century are making a clear image after the first decade. While
global constraints of natural resources and environmental capacities such as the global warming
have been apparent in a concrete manner, new emerging nations such as China are achieving
remarkable economic growth. The realization of sustainable development of human society on theearth makes a focal issue in the 21st century. Sustainable development is no longer a mere concept,
but appearing as a realistic challenge to be responded.
The Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE), which was founded for
the New Earth 21 Program launched by the government of Japan in 1990, has to contribute to therealization of the sustainable development. While the issue of sustainable development is a theme
given to RITE from the society, the theme is too broad for researchers to deal with. The broadresearch objective should be interpreted as a set of the issues to be addressed as research subjects.
The essence of research lies, after all, in the discovery of new facts and/or the creation of new
useful artifacts including not only physical products but also systems in a form of software. RITE
has achieved various world leading research outputs such as the technologies for CO2 capture andstorage (CCS), bio-refinery technologies, and the mathematical models for systems analysis of themeasures to cope with global warming. These outstanding achievements were resulted from theresearch activities to tackle with the problems properly derived by interpreting the broad societal
needs for realizing sustainable development as concrete research subjects particularly in the fieldof climate change issues. The staff of RITE should have gained precious experiences, which leadto the proud as researchers, through these achievements in the discovery of new facts and thedevelopment of useful technologies and systems.
RITE must meet the expectations from the society as a trustworthy research organization; inaddition, RITE should be a place for the staff to enjoy research activities leading to its corporate
identity. The staff should exert their ingenuity in individual roles: the management to set a proper
research agenda for meeting the social expectations; administrative staff to support research
activities and disseminate the results; and researchers to think the implication of research inthe society as well as to conduct professional research. While scientific curiosity is an important
motivation for the research, recognition of the objective of the research will strengthen the power
to develop mew ideas. Joy of research is not enough for researchers to enjoy their research life,
recognizing the social context of the research is another important element.
RITE, with the fruitful 20 year history, will continue to be an active research organization
to tackle with global environmental issues. We would like to ask for your encouragement andcontinuing support.

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Research Planning Group

Research Planning Group
Technology Strategy Map on CO2 Fixation and Eﬀective Utilization
came to be very important.
As described above, CCS has been recognized as avery important mitigation option but at the same time
we noticed that there were many challenges for implementation of CCS. The first challenge is financing of
CCS project. Without setting a carbon price, no income
is expected from CCS implementation with some exceptions like EOR or EGR. But nations where carbon
tax or emission trading systems being introduced arelimited or even if carbon price is already set, for example, in EU nations, it is low or very unstable now. Thus,
implementations of large-scale CCS projects have todepend on government’s financial supports. As of 2010,
public funding commitments were in the range of USD
26.6 billion to USD 36.1 billion.
The second challenge is to establish legal and regulatory frameworks for safe large-scale geological storageof CO2. Significant progress has been made in the EU(the Directive on the Geological Storage of CO2 and the
EU Emissions Trade Scheme Directive), Australia (Offshore Petroleum Law Amendment), and the US (Safe
Drinking Act UIC program). In Japan, the Amendment
Act for the Prevention of Marine Pollution and Maritime Disasters was established in May 2008, which provides a legal and regulatory framework on subsea geological storage of CO2.
As a lifetime of fossil power plant is about 40 years
or more, stations which are constructed without retrofit
of CO2 now will continue to emit for such long years –CO2 unabated for the lifetime of the plant – describedas “carbon lock-in”. Europe Commissions stated carbon
dioxide capture-ready (CCR) mandatory for all newlarge combustion power stations at or over 300 MWe in
CCS Directive. CCR means a design of combustion
power stations to allow retrofitting of CCS once CCS
technologies have been proven.
In connect with above policy progress, 80 large-scale
integrated projects at various stage of development wereannounced around the world until 2010 with the helpof government and private sectors. Many CCS projects
in power sector, for example AEP’s Mountaineer Project, were also included along with CCS project for natural gas origin.
In Japan, CCS is also considered to be one of the important options for substantial CO2 emissions reduction. In 2008, the Action Plan for Achieving a Low-carbon Society was issued, which said: “CCS technology
has the potential for massive emissions reductions inthermal power generation, which accounts for roughly
30 percent of Japan’s emissions, and in the steelmaking

1. Introduction
In the last issue of “RITE Today”, we introduced“Technology Strategy Map on CO2 fixation and effective
utilization” drawn up by RITE. In this map, we showedstrategies and roadmaps by 2050 in two technology areas,
CCS (Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage) and terrestrial storage using large scale afforestation, which wereselected as technology areas effective in both reduction
potential and cost viewpoint and should be moved to implementation level. This map is revised every year.
In this report, firstly we would like to describe trends
in policy and technology in both fields and then introduce the latest “Technology Strategy Map 2010”.

2. Trends in CO2 fixation and effective utilization
This section describes trends in policies and technologies of CCS, and section 2-2 focuses on trends in terrestrial storage using large scale afforestation.
2-1. CCS
1. Policy
In 2008, IEA issued the scenario for Hokkaido Toyako G8 Summit, where 50% reduction in global CO2 emissions would be achieved by 2050. The followings were described in this scenario:• Reduction of 48 GtCO2 /yr from the baseline emissions will be required by the year 2050.
• CCS shows the third largest contribution (19%) to
50% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050 following
energy efficiency (36%) and renewables (21%).
• If CCS is not available, the overall cost will increase by
70%.
Based on these analyses, CCS was concluded to be an
essential part of the technology portfolio for achieving
substantial global CO2 emissions reduction.
After considering this report, leaders in Toyako Summit agreed to issue the statement: “We strongly support
the launching of 20 large-scale CCS demonstration projects globally by 2010, taking into account various national circumstances, with a view to beginning broad deployment of CCS by 2020”.
The next year, IEA published “Technology Roadmap,
Carbon Capture and Storage” and showed that around
3,400 projects would be required worldwide by the year
2050 to meet the 50% reduction scenario, nearly half of
this total number of projects would be required by thepower sector, about 100 projects were needed within thenext ten years, and a significant ramp-up from today’slevels of CCS deployment was necessary. They also pointed out that CCS development in non-OECD regions be-02

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Research Planning Group

process, which accounts for roughly 10 percent. Japan
will promote the development of this technology to makethe cost of capture and storage in the order of 2,000 yen
per ton by around 2015, and to reduce the cost to 1,000
yen or so in the 2020s. At the same time, Japan will commence verification tests on a large scale at an early stage
from 2009 onward, with the aim of implementation by
2020. Regarding application, Japan will work to resolve
issues such as enhancing environmental impact assessments and monitoring, putting legislation in place, andensuring public approval. Based on this policy, JapanCCS Co., Ltd. (JCCS) was established to accomplish
comprehensive investigations for carrying out CCS total
system demonstrations and started preparation of largescale CCS demonstrations. Finally METI issued the report, “For safe operation of a CCS demonstration project” in August 2009, which gave safety and environmental
standards for a large-scale CCS demonstration, including geological considerations in examining candidate
sites for CCS demonstration, issues related to CO2 capture and transport, monitoring items after storage, andremedies for potential problems.

saline aquifer in Nagaoka gas field. As the next step, alarge scale demonstration is needed for early establishment of integrated system of CCS including a capture
process to accomplish a full-scaled CCS implementationin Japan. Site selection, design of facilities, and feasibility
study in candidate sites for large scale demonstrations are
conducted by Japan CCS Co. Ltd. Evaluation of environmental impact and safety assesment for increasing reliability of geological storage and estimation of longtermed behavior of stored CO2 are also importantinvestigation theme for safe CO2 storage, on which RITE
is investigating now.
2-2. Terrestrial storage using large scale afforestation
1. Policy
On the validity of terrestrial storage using large scaleafforestation for CO2 mitigation, “Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007 “concluded as follows:• During the last decade of the 20th century, deforestation in the tropics remained the major factors responsible for emissions. Emissions from deforestation in
the 1990s are estimated at 5.8 GtCO2/yr.
• Bottom-up regional studies show that forestry mitigation options have the economic potential at costs up
to 100 US$/tCO2-eq to contribute 1.3-4.2 Gt CO2/yr
in 2030. Around 1.6 Gt CO2/yr can be achieved at a
cost under 20 US$/t CO2. Global top-down models
predict far higher mitigation potentials of 13.8 Gt
CO2/yr in 2030 at carbon prices less than or equal to
100 US$/t CO2.
• Carbon mitigation by forestry contains reducing deforestation, forest management, afforestation, andagro-forestry. In the short term, the carbon mitigation
benefits of reducing deforestation are the greatest.
Biomass from forestry can be estimated to have a mitigation potential roughly equal to 0.4-4.4 Gt CO2/yr.
In the long term, a sustainable forest management
strategy aimed at maintaining or increasing forest
carbon stocks will generate the largest sustained mitigation benefit.
• Forestry can make a very significant contribution to a
low-cost global mitigation portfolio. However, thishas resulted in only a small portion of this potential
being realized at present.
• Realization of the mitigation potential requires institutional capacity, investment capital, technology R&D
and transfer, as well as appropriate policies and incentives, and international cooperation.
On the basis of this analysis, a new initiative, “theUnited Nations Collaborative initiative on Reducing
Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation(REDD) was launched in September 2008, which is managed by three United Nation’s organizations (FAO, UNDP

2. Technology
Chemical absorption, physical absorption, and membrane separation etc. are used for capturing CO2. Chemical absorption was already used for a capture processfrom the process gas in oil refinery plants in Japan but
more cost- and energy-effective processes have been required to apply to various kind of emission sites for mitigating global warming. Such advanced solvents havebeen developed in Japan for many years and some solvents, for example KS-solvent, has reached a commercial
level. In order to develop capture processes for iron andsteel making industries, COCS (Cost-Saving CO2 Capture System) project developed new absorbents with alow regeneration energy in steel works. In 2008 COURSE
50 (CO2 Ultimate Reduction in Steel-making process by
Innovative Technology for Cool Earth 50) project started, where some advanced solvents have been tested in
30t-CO2 per day capture plant. In the US, “Chilled Ammonia” process is being tested in a pilot scale. Development of polymer and ceramic membrane is also important for capturing CO2 from high pressured gasses. RITE
has been developing molecular-gate membrane since2006 after the international collaborative investigation
on membrane technology with the US DOE’s NETL
started in 2003.
Geological CO2 storage is divided to storage in saline
aquifer, in depleted oil or gas field, EOR/EGR, and coalbed methane production. Now, EOR and storage in depleted oil or gas field are conducted in the world and alarge-scale injection test into saline aquifer has alreadybegun. In Japan, RITE has conducted CO2 storage projects which contained 10,000 tons of CO2 injection into

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Research Planning Groupand UNE) with the aid of Forest Carbon Partnership Facility at the World Bank and the Tropical Forest Accountat Global Environmental Facility. After the discussion at
COP/MOP4 in 2008, it was decided to continue efforts to
put REDD into the next framework of carbon mitigations. At COP15 in 2009 six countries, Japan, the US,
France, Australia, Britain, and Norway decided to give afinancial support to REDD. Another effort in terrestrial
storage is seen in US DOE’s Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership, which conducts management of forest-,
agriculture-, and wet-land, demonstration of CO2 monitoring, and economical evaluation when carbon credit
being introduced.
Progresses in biomass utilization area are as follows:
As clean and renewable energy was one of three high prioritized areas in “American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009”, US DOE released funding to bio-fuel andbio-refinery projects. In EU “Climate and Energy Package” was agreed by the European Parliament and Council
in December 2008 and became law in June 2009, whichsuggested that the portion of renewables should be increased to 20% of the total energy consumption.
In February 2007, Japanese Government set a goal toextend the amount of bio-fuel production to 6 million
kL, (10% of annual gasoline consumption) by 2030 andpresented a technology roadmap including cellulosic
ethanol production. In order to promote development ofinnovative technologies for effective cellulosic bio-fuels
production in a manner consistent with “Roadmap forincreased production of domestic bio-fuels”, the Ministryof Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) cooperated with
the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries(MAFF) to develop the “Bio-fuel Technology Innovation
Plan” in March 2008 which contained required innovative technologies, milestones, and roadmap. This planalso provided a benchmark for the cost of ethanol production, 40 yen per liter, which should be attained
through drastic cost cutting of raw materials and enzymes.

RITE developed a new effective alcohol production
process from cellulose using an engineered strain of
growth-arrested Corynebacterium glutamicum. This process is much evaluated as it shows a high tolerance against
fermentation inhibitors. As further steps, RITE has beendeveloping new production processes for various kindsof energy and chemical products including butanol, lactic acid, and succinic acid from non-food biomass basedon this technology.

3. Technology Strategy Map 2010
After considering these trends in policies and technologies, “Technology Strategy Map 2010 on CO2 fixation and effective utilization” was prepared. In this year,
we investigated the number of papers issued (Fig. 1) or
cited (Fig.2) in the field of capture, geological storage,
ocean sequestration, terrestrial storage using large scaleafforestation, and biomass utilization and the position ofJapan was grasped in the world by benchmark comparison of Japan to other countries. We also tried portfolio
evaluation to clear up the position in CO2 mitigation
technologies.
The roadmap is shown in Fig. 3. In this revised version, “demonstration of integrated processes of CCS” wasdrawn with a more emphatic.

4. Conclusion
RITE publicizes this roadmap via the Internet, invites
opinion from the public, and rolls up the roadmap every
year. Innovative technologies are required to stop global
warming. We have to gather more knowledge and wisdom from universities, institutes, and companies etc. On
the basis of these, purpose-fitting and effective developments and promotion of applications should be carriedout. We wish that our roadmap contributes to such effective developments.

2. Technology
Terrestrial storage using large scale afforestation is the
only a technology capable of competing with CCS from aviewpoint of large decrease in CO2 concentration in the
air but more cost cutting is required. In order to increase
absorbing amount of CO2 per unit area and expand vegetation into unsuitable areas for plants like arid area, weshould conduct selection of elite plants and soil improvement at early stage and develop genetically-engineered
plants step by step, with stimulating information about
safety and showing their advantages for CO2 reduction.
Development of adequate monitoring procedures is also
necessary. In addition to these, it is important to develop
conversion or utilization technologies for industrial andinnovative use of biomass.

Figure 1 Changes in number of papers released in the related fields(based on research using “Web of Science” by RITE)

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Research Planning Group

Figure 2 An example of investigation the number of papers cited(based on research using “Web of Science” by RITE)

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Research Planning Group✳ CO2 capture: New PC(830MW), Amount of CCS:1Mt-CO2/yr, compression:7MPa, Steam extract from steam cycle of power plant✳ Geological storage :Cost of CO2 capture+pipeline transport 20km+injection (compression:15MPa, 0.1Mt-CO2/yr/well)✳ Afforestation: Afforestation cycle 7years(Cut down and sprout reafforestation), Biomass quantity of production 20m3/hr/yr, Cost for
afforestation management:17~31%, Cost of land lease:$50/hr∙yr
Figure 3 Strategic Technology Roadmap “CO2 fixation and effective CO2 utilization”

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Systems Analysis Group

Systems Analysis Group
Synthetic Scenario Development for Climate Change Control and Sustainable Development
comes, or rather causes unduly confusion to the society.
The ALPS project aims at providing alternative plausible future scenarios and through quantification of multiple aspects of society on the assumptions that the realworld society consists of a wide range of values. Thisapproach allows us to inform decision makers of more
appropriate strategies toward sustainable development
and climate stabilization from longer and wider perspectives. Another focus is to gain a clearer understanding of
CO2 emissions structure on a national, sectoral and technological basis in order to deal with short and mid-termclimate challenges. The scenarios on combinations ofmacro and micro views would generate further insights
into climate change mitigation and sustainable development.
This report presents a part of our system development
which aims to be implemented in FY2011.

1. Introduction
RITE has been working on a synthetic scenario development for climate change control and sustainable development in a project called ALternative Pathways toward
Sustainable development and climate stabilization (ALPS)
since FY 2007. A variety of mitigation scenarios has beendeveloped so far, and made a due contribution to policy
making in the context of climate change control. The
conventional approaches in modeling exercises for scenario development, however, tend to describe a simplified world in which most cost-effective mitigation measures in the world as a whole are taken. The reality ismore complex: different actors have different policy priorities based on their economic levels, natural circumstances and other constraints, which leads to a difficultyin creating a coordinated uniform policy, as observed in
the COP15 negotiations and in the domestic policy making process. Climate change is not the only issue on the
global agenda, so it should be addressed in a balancedmanner under multiple dimensions. Conventional global
abatement scenarios may be too simplified to capturerichness of detail and context of the real world situation.
The results reveal that climate policy with the highly-idealized premises sometimes does not deliver relevant out-

2. Approach
Modeling simulations are powerful tools to support
decision making even though they tend to assume perfect information or perfectly rational behavior. At thesame time, it is important to bear in mind that the realworld is full of variety and complex. The gap between the

Figure 1 Scenarios to be developed in the ALPS project
Note:
The RCP for scenarios of emission reduction levels are representative concentration pathways, which are emission pathways considered by IPCC. These scenarios are:
RCP3.0PD Radiative forcing peaks at 3W/m2 then declines to 2.6W/m2 in 2100 (equivalent to 450ppm-CO2eq.).
RCP4.5 Radiative forcing reaches 4.5W/m2 in 2100 (equivalent to 600-650ppm-CO2eq.).
RCP6.0 Radiative forcing reaches 6.0W/m2 in 2100 (equivalent to 700-750ppm-CO2eq.).
RCP8.5 Radiative forcing reaches 8.5W/m2 in 2100.

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R&D Activities

Systems Analysis Groupthetic scenario development of climate change control
and sustainable development, therefore, a careful treatment for projections of population and economic growth
is required. This project aims to analyze various indicescomprehensively and to develop future scenarios such as
about population and economic growth, taking impactsof world financial crisis into consideration. Figure 2
shows global GDP projections in our scenarios A) Continuing technological progress scenario (high scenario)
and B) Modest technological progress scenario (medium
scenario). Figure 3 shows projections for the share of
global GDP by county in Scenario B. The global averageof real GDP annual growth assumed to be 2.9% in Scenario A and 2.8% in Scenario B between 2005 and 2020,
and 2.7% and 2.4% between 2020 and 2050, respectively.
GDP in emerging economies such as China and India
will grow significantly and its share of global GDP willfurther expand toward 2050.

real world and virtual model world creates a risk of sending a wrong message. Therefore this ALPS project starts
from a deep understanding of the current world situation and historical trends in order to avoid such trap.
Based on the insights gained from the socio-economic
analysis above, narrative storylines with great details areworked out from broader perspectives.
Three different types of qualitative scenarios are developed: 1) Socio-economic scenarios, 2) Climate Change
Policy scenarios, and 3) Representative Concentration
Pathways (RCP) scenarios. Furthermore sub-scenarios
focus on the subject matter of development and diffusionof climate friendly technologies (Figure1).
1) Socio-economic scenarios focusing on uncertainty
of technological progress are divided into two scenarios:A) Continuing technological progress scenario and B)
Modest technological progress scenario. A new approachis taken for the 2) Climate Change Policy scenarios toreflect various social situations in different climate change
context, digging into three categories: I) Human World
Scenario, II) Energy Security Scenario, and III) Econo
World Scenario.
I) Human World Scenario assumes that human society is built up on the multiple values and diverse communities in nature. A multi-value society usually does
not fit well with a uniform framework on climate change
while all kinds of economic, social and political barriers
exist in the diffusion of climate-friendly technologies.
Under the II) Energy Security Scenario each country
puts the highest priority on national security, and efforts
are made to address climate change in the context of energy security. III) Econo World Scenario is a scenario
under which people are rational, and measures against
global warming are taken in a cost effective way. This assumption was implicitly adopted by most of the conventional climate change assessment. Given these different
natures of the scenarios, mitigation measures and especially their costs may vary significantly even though thesame economic conditions are assumed and the same
concentration level is pursued. Referring to a range ofsustainable development indices, the ALPS project intends to yield deep insights about these scenarios in order to make a contribution to a thorough discussion on
climate change.
As for 3) Representative Concentration Pathways(RCP) scenarios, four scenarios (RCP3.0PD, RCP 4.5,
RCP 6.0 and RCP 8.5) will be considered as targeted concentration stabilization levels in our analysis.

Figure 2 Global GDP scenarios
Note: SRES stands for the scenarios described in IPCC special report on emissions
scenarios (2000).

3. Future socio-economic scenario
CO2 emissions are closely related to the use of energy.
It is important to decouple CO2 emissions from economic growth, however, it has been shown that there is a statistically significant positive relationship between CO2emissions, population and economic growth. For a syn-Figure 3 Share of global GDP by county in ALPS Scenario B

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Systems Analysis Group

4. Global CO2 emissions projection

5. Synthetic assessment of socio-economic
scenarios for climate change control andsustainable development

Figure 4 shows a projection of CO2 emissions estimated by the world’s most advanced assessment model of
GHGs mitigation (DNE21+) developed by RITE on thebasis of CO2 emissions statistics until 2008, economic
trends by country and future prospects of economic
growth until 2010. This is the projection of business-asusual CO2 emissions without additional climate policy, inwhich B) Modest technological progress scenario (medium scenario) and I) Human World Scenario (in line witha real society) are considered.
Global CO2 emissions from fuel combustion amountto 2.8 billion tons in 2008, and are expected to reach 3.4
billion tons in 2030 and 5.3 billion tons in 2050. CO2
emissions in developed countries decreased substantially
due to the world financial crisis, however, the trend ofincrease in emissions in the world as a whole will notchange significantly. Furthermore, the share of global
emissions by country has largely changed since 1990 andit will continue to change toward 2050. Specifically, theratio of total emissions of Annex I countries with their
reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol will accountfor below one-fourth of global emissions (23%) in 2020.
It is crucial to pursue the framework of the Copenhagen
Accord with participations from major emitting countries in order to achieve an effective CO2 emission control.

Given the diversity in society, a scenario assessment
only with indices related to GHGs emissions and mitigation cots is insufficient. The ALPS project develops quantitative scenarios which are consistent with narrative scenarios by using existing models developed by RITE withconsistent data among these models. This enables us to
conduct an assessment of indices widely related to sustainable development such as not only energy, climatechange, but also economic society (see Table 1). An integrated index of the scenarios will be presented, taking
into consideration of different priorities for each scenario
by weighting key indices.

6. Expected Outcome
Synthetic scenarios toward sustainable development
and climate stabilization will be implemented by FY2011
in a consistent and quantitative manner based on the
narrative scenarios and group of assessment models. This
study provides substantial insight into alternative pathways and catches the implied meaning from the quantitative assessment in order to guide our future actions. Findings and lessons learnt from this research project,including scenario analysis, are returned to society. The
results of this study are expected to not only make scientific contribution to the IPCC but also to serve as fundamental information for decision making on global anddomestic climate change policy.

Figure 4 Projection of CO2 emissions from fuel combustion in major countries and regions in ALPS Scenario B-I
Note: IEA statistics are used until 2008. Other Annex I countries refer to "Other Annex B countries" with reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol.

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Table 1 Key socio-economic indices for synthetic scenario assessments ofalternative pathways toward sustainable development and climate stabilization

Items
Working-age population

Ratio of working-age population(between the ages of 15 and 64)

Education

Literacy rate, (Primary, secondary and tertiary education) Enrollment rate , Investment in education

Average income

GDP per capita

Poverty

Proportion of population living in poverty

Concentration of GHGs

CO2 emissions and atmospheric concentrations of CO2, GHGs emissions and atmospheric concentrations of GHGs, temperature

Costs of climate change
control

Mitigation costs, marginal abatement costs

Nutrition intake

Proportion of population below minimum level of nutrition intake

Access to water

Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source

Access to energy

Proportion of population with access to modern forms of energy (electricity and gas)

HealthUnder-five mortality rate

Food security

Ratio of food self-sufficiency

Energy security

Energy security indicators

Water security

Proportion of population above certain ratio of water demand and supply

Land use

Area of land use change, change in the number of species

Human capital

EconomyGlobal warming

Basic needs andinfrastructure

Security

Natureconservation

Variables10

R&D Activities

Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology Group

Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology Group
Global Bioreﬁnery Trends and Research Overview
bly, it is important to make use of non-food biomass
resources in order to avoid the food-vs.-fuel/chemicals
dilemma.

1. Introduction
The biorefinery is a relatively recent concept proposed
among others by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)to encompass technologies or industries that can produce
chemicals and liquid fuels from biomass (instead of fromfossil feedstock) (Figure 1). Biomass, since it originatesfrom plants and microorganisms, enables a virtuous carbon neutral cycle of harvesting via plant growing, processing, burning, and recycling of CO2, thus contributing
to no net changes in the level of atmospheric CO2. Since
the 1990s, the transitioning from oil petrorefineries tobiorefineries has been one of the strategic scientific missions of the U.S. The advancement of technologies relevant to the implementation of the biorefinery vision istherefore a key federal policy to achieve a post-fossil resources sustainable society in the 21st century. The problem is even more urgent that according to the International Energy Association (IEA), the global energy
consumption has continued its expansion in spite of the
global economical stagnation of 2008-2009, driven to alarge extent by the continued strong and fast increasingenergy demand of emerging economies such as China,
India, Brazil, and Russia (BRIC countries). As a result,the implementation of cost-effective biorefineries constitutes a pressing development need to enable the production of biofuels and green chemicals from biomass. Nota-

2. Biofuels
The 2010 world ethanol production is estimated to be
23 billion gallons. This represents more than 15% growthsince 2009 and has essentially been achieved by converting corn starch or sugarcane-derived sucrose. However,important technology developments to enable the use ofnon-food biomass have significantly been achieved in recent years as a means to decrease environment deterioration risks and risks of competition with the global foodsupply (Figure 2). For example, agricultural residues suchas corn stover or so-called energy grasses such as switchgrass, are now expected to represent useful options to
produce clean fuels. Notably, their uses can eliminate thecompetition with foods and effectively reduce CO2 emissions as demonstrated by Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
analyses. The U.S. DOE has been strongly backing biorefinery projects using non-food biomass. As a result, several demonstration scale cellulosic ethanol plants will be
open after 2011 in the U.S. Notably, to promote the market penetration of biofuels, the U.S. government has recently released new regulations, Renewable Fuel Standard 2 (RSF2), and increased to 36 billion gallons the vol-Figure 1 Biorefinery: production of biofuels and green chemicals from non-food biomass

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Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology Group

Figure 2 Shift to non-food resources

ume of renewable fuel that is required to be blended intotransportation fuels by 2022. Moreover, the use of ethanol-gasoline blends containing up to 15 percent ethanol
by volume (E15) was also decided in October 2010 for all
vehicles built in 2007 and newer. On the other hand, inEurope, the slow economy and low profitability of 2010
have decreased the growth of biodiesel consumption,
which accounts for approximately 80% of the European
biofuels consumption. Nonetheless, it is also worth noting that the European Union has set the target to reach
10% biofuels in its transportation energy mix by 2020. In
Japan, the Basic Energy Plan revised by the Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry has established the promotion of renewable energies such as biofuels for transportation, and biofuel targets are included in the key targets for 2030.

reasons accounting for the fast market growth that is observed today. Green chemicals have sprung an industrytransforming technology trend of substituting sustainable chemicals for the most common oil-derived platformchemicals. Remarkably, the new trend places the emphasis on producing commodity chemicals rather than finechemicals, which have been the early focus of biochemical engineering. As a result, several manufacturing platforms can be envisaged, such as a C-2 platform from bioethanol, a C-3 platform from biopropanol, or a C-4
platform from biobutanol. In the future, more complex
structures comprising for example carboxylic acids,amines, and aromatic compounds should also be amenable to similar platform chemical production processes.

3. Green chemicals

4. Technology development: the RITE Bioprocess(Growth-Arrested Bioprocess)In addition to biofuels, strong growth is expected in
the field of green (renewable) chemicals produced frombiomass. The global market of green chemicals has been
growing at around 30%, and will continue to expand to
more than $10 billion in sales after 2015. The use of nonfood feedstock like corn stover or switchgrass is also an
essential requirement for manufacturers (Figure 2). Sincesaccharification costs have been greatly decreasing withthe decrease of cellulose hydrolyzing enzyme (cellulase)costs through technology improvements achieved by enzyme manufacturers, the use of cellulosic biomass hydrolysates that contain mixed sugars has become a promising possibility. Presumably, this prospect is one of the

Our group has developed an efficient biomass utilization technology based on intrinsic characteristics of coryneform bacteria. The process was named “RITE Bioprocess” (Growth-arrested bioprocess), and it has so far
enabled elevated productivities of organic acids and biofuels. This pioneering technology enables the simultaneous utilization of mixed sugars from cellulosic biomass inbiorefinery settings. In collaboration with a private company, we applied it in a cellulosic ethanol production system, earning the Grand Prize at the 18th Nikkei Global
Environment Award (see RITE Today 2009). What ismore, our process has evoked the interest of international
public and private researchers. In particular, a German

12

R&D Activities

Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology Group

group has been following our footsteps and carried out
additional researches using coryneform bacteria; they independently confirmed the capabilities and attributes of
our innovative bioprocess, which is characterized particularly by a clear separation between product production
and the growth phase of the bacteria catalysts. The maintechnological features of the RITE Bioprocess are givenin the following paragraphs.

by-products formed during the pre-treatment of lignocellulosic biomass. As exemplified by hydrothermal
treatment, such treatments are typically very harsh but
are necessary to break the recalcitrant biomass fiber andthereby facilitate enzymatic hydrolysis. Their strong inhibition has been known for many years to be a cause ofconcern to the biofuel manufacturer and they represent
one of the biggest problems associated with conventional
bioprocesses. However, we demonstrated that these fermentation inhibitors essentially do not affect the RITE
Bioprocess, since their action is to inhibit cell growth
while our process separates the cell growth phase fromthe product production phase. Furthermore, we extensively demonstrated that the main metabolic pathways
necessary to produce compounds of interest on the one
hand remain active under the conditions of the growtharrested RITE Bioprocess and on the other hand are virtually not affected by the presence of fermentation inhibitors in quantities that would hinder conventional
processes.

4-1. Technological attributes of the RITE Bioprocess
The RITE Bioprocess addresses fundamental problems of conventional bioprocesses. In the first step that
occurs in the laboratory, coryneform bacteria are designed and engineered to have an optimum metabolic
pathway for a particular target chemical. At the production plant stage, cells are grown at a large scale and packed
to very high densities in a reactor in order to maximize
the catalyst/volume ratio. The substrate is subsequently
added to initiate bioconversion under oxygen deprivation; this has the effect to cease the growth of these bacteria while keeping them metabolically active. As a result,
the target chemical is produced by growth-arrested cells,with a larger share of the substrate being converted into
useful products. The key to achieving high efficiency andhigh productivity is the effective separation of the microbial growth phase from the production phase of the target compound. This manner of using bacterial cells as if
they were simple chemical catalysts enables one to produce large amounts of chemicals in short periods of time,and unlike conventional bioprocesses, the productivities
reached, expressed as space-time-yield (STY), are comparable to that of chemical processes.

4-4. Future technology development
We are constantly expanding the range of product options that the RITE Bioprocess can support. To this end,
we implement global analysis tools including system biology based on metabolome analysis, metabolic pathway
design, and genome engineering based on the genome
database of coryneform bacteria. Figure 3 shows the synthetic pathways from pyruvate of a variety of compounds
using cellulosic biomass hydrolysates as raw materials. In
addition to the successful production of ethanol, or Land D-lactic acids and succinic acid, we are developing awhole range of new targets addressing large market needsor high value added, comprising butanol, aromatic compounds, and amino acids. Although the economical production of aromatic compounds has been a challenge
when using conventional fermentation technologies,
their production by industrial biotechnology is still an
important aim since these materials, once made fromsustainable raw materials such as biomass, are expectedby Japanese leading companies to become basic materials for advanced products, such as electric device, hardware, and automobiles. In addition, we revisit with the
RITE Bioprocess the production of compounds conventionally manufactured by aerobic fermentation such asamino acids. There is an important cost component thatcan be exploited here: the production of amino acids by
conventional fermentation processes requires air compressors and agitation motors for carrying out forced
ventilation and mixing liquids, respectively. These equipments and their operations result in significant capitaland variable expenses. We have already begun to develop
anaerobic production processes for several amino acids
by using the RITE Bioprocess. We will announce these in
the future.

4-2. Simultaneous utilization of C6 and C5 sugars
Lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysates constitute complex mixtures of different sugars. They comprise pentoses(C5 sugars such as xylose and arabinose) derived fromhemicelluloses, as well as hexoses (C6 sugars such as glucose and fructose); whereas corn starch and sugarcanederived sucrose hydrolysates contain only hexoses. Therefore, for achieving a high yield per substrate, it is essential
for microorganisms used in biofuel processes to exhibit
the ability to simultaneously utilize both pentoses andhexoses. We introduced several genes relative to the catabolism of C5 sugars into coryneform bacteria, and applied these recombinant bacteria to our bioprocess. These
modifications made the utilization of cellulosic materials
efficient and faster conversions thus became possible
since we could achieve without any lag phase the simultaneous utilization of all the sugars present in the reaction
medium.
4-3. Tolerance against fermentation inhibitors
Fermentation inhibitors include phenols, furans andorganic acids such as acetic acid. These compounds are13

R&D Activities

Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology Group

Figure 3 Production pathways of coryneform bacteria engineered for acyclic chemicals and biofuels biosynthesis

4-5. Development for industrialization
Last year, we have established several partnerships
with private companies to accelerate our research anddevelopment, in addition to the collaborative work forthe cellulosic ethanol production system described elsewhere (see RITE Today 2008~2010). A recent legal
change in Japan makes that no more than 2 unrelated
legal entities are necessary to establish a venture having
corporate status, with the important specification thatjoint research is now also possible between companies
and public R&D agencies. The ability to pursue suchpartnerships will help us develop and evolve cooperative
entities to quickly commercialize our developments. In
addition to the associations established last year, “Green
Phenol Technology Research Association” and “Bio-Butanol Technology Research Association”, new associations with other goals are in preparation.

to go on line in the U.S. after 2011. Green chemicals suchas aromatic compounds are expected to become essential
materials; a strong know-how in this arena will undoubtedly help boost the competitiveness of Japanese leadingindustries. To contribute in achieving early the establishment of a competitive commercial-scale biorefinery, we
hope to continue to aggressively expand our base of collaborative researches with industry to further the chemical scope and industrial deployment of the RITE Bioprocess platform technology.

5. Ending remark
Last November, the World Meteorological Organization announced that, globally, the average atmospheric
CO2 concentration reached a record level in 2009. Although the reasons why the levels of warming gases havesteadily increased in the atmosphere over the past few
years are still being debated, the competition for technology development in the field of biorefinery (one of theconceptually very effective means against global warming) is intensifying worldwide. As reported in the preceding paragraphs, in the field of biofuels, demonstration-scale cellulosic ethanol plants have been and arebeing constructed, and their productions are scheduled

14

R&D Activities

Chemical Research Group

Chemical Research Group
Challenges for Advanced Industrializing CO2 Capture Technologies
CO2 capture and storage (CCS) is composed of CO2
capture from fossil fuel combustion gases and its injection into geological formations for storage or sequestration.
The current CO2 capture cost from emission sources
is estimated to be about 60% of CCS costs. Therefore reduction of CO2 capture costs is important aspect for practical application of CCS.
Our Chemical Research Group studies various CO2
capture technologies, with a special focus on chemical
absorption and membrane separation methods.
We developed a COCS project aimed at reducing theCO2 capture cost in ironworks by chemical absorption, in
which we developed an innovative chemical absorbent
that reduced the CO2 capture cost for flue gas to 3000
JPY/ton-CO2. We are continuing to develop a chemical
absorbent to further reduce this CO2 capture cost to 2000
JPY/ton-CO2.
Moreover, we have developed an excellent CO2 absorbent that is effective for pressurized gas, and are planningto put this into practical use.
By developing molecular gate type membrane technologies to capture CO2 selectively from H2-containingpressurized gases such as that in the integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC), we are aiming for a CO2
capture cost target of 1500 JPY/ton-CO2.
We have discovered that new types of dendrimer
polymers have excellent properties for separating CO2
from H2 gas mixtures, and are therefore developing membrane modules incorporating dendrimeric materials.
Furthermore, we have begun testing module performance using simulated gas of coal gasification gas.
For CO2 capture technology using adsorption processes, we have developed new solid adsorbents that do
not lose CO2 capture efficiency even in the presence ofwater vapor. We are planning to develop a low-cost CO2
capture process by eliminating the requirement for a dehumidification tower.
Above all, we have begun to develop new solid sorbents, onto which amine is immobilized, for the purposeof developing low-cost CO2 capture technology.
As mentioned above, we are promoting innovative
CO2 capture technologies, which lay the foundations forthe next generation, while developing practical technologies that are acceptable to industries.
Moreover, we have seed technologies such as CO2
separation by zeolite membranes, H2 separation by palladium membranes, a hybrid CO2 capture system thatcombines membranes with a wet scrubbing system, baroplastics that have low temperature flow under high pres-sure state, etc., to be used for various purposes.

Development of CO 2 capture technology bychemical absorption systems
CO2 capture by chemical absorption is a prospective
technology for separating CO2 from a CO2-containing
gas by means of thermal dissociation of CO2 that is chemically absorbed in an amine-based solution. This is suitable for CO2 separation from the normal pressure gas
generated on an industrial scale. Our objective is to develop new, efficient absorbents that will decrease the CO2
separation cost, which is the main concern for chemical
absorption systems.
We planned and coordinated, from FY 2004 until FY
2008, a “Cost-saving CO2 Capture System” (COCS) project to capture and separate CO2 from ironworks blast furnace gas at half the previous cost of a chemical absorption system, and achieved this goal (Fig. 1).

Figure 1 The outline of cost saving CO2 capture system (COCS project)

The characteristics required of new absorbents to capture and separate CO2 are lower heat of reaction and dissociation energy for CO2 and a higher CO2 absorption
capacity. In particular, amines possess excellent characteristics in this regard.
In the first step of the COCS project, hundreds ofamines were chosen from commercially available amines.
We studied their basic characteristics, such as CO2 absorption rate in solution, heat of reaction, CO2 absorption capacity and so on, in a laboratory scale and determined the relationship between the chemical structure of
the amines and their characteristics as absorbents. Furthermore, as a result of exploring amine composition andcombining the characteristics of various amines, we developed several new efficient types of absorbent solution

15

R&D Activities

Chemical Research Groupture under high-pressure conditions, based on our accumulated research experience and found amine-based absorbents with excellent CO2 absorption and dissociation
performances. We will propose a chemical absorption
system using these amine absorbents as a new technology for CO2 capture from gases under high pressure.

(RITE-3 and 4 series) (Fig. 2). In the second step, we also
developed more efficient absorbents (RITE-5 and 6 series) by designing, synthesizing and evaluating various
kinds of amines using a methodology of computational
chemistry based on our acquired data and quantum
chemistry. The best performance for CO2 capture energyof the absorbents developed in this project is 2.5 GJ/tonCO2, compared with the CO2 capture energy of MEA(monoethanolamine) used as a standard of 4.0 GJ/tonCO2. We thus achieved the project target (Fig. 3).

C O 2 an d H 2 s e p ar at i on w it h a p ol y m e r i cmembraneJapan’s government declared a goal to reduce CO2
emissions to half of those in 2005 as the objective “CoolEarth 50”. One promising means of reducing CO2 emission is the development of an integrated coal gasification
combined cycle with CO2 capture & storage (IGCCCCS). In the IGCC-CCS process, CO2 separation membranes will play an important role for reducing CO2 capture costs. Estimates indicate that the CO2 capture costfrom a pressurized gas stream using a membrane might
be 1500 JPY/ton-CO2 or less.
We are currently developing a CO2 molecular gate
membrane, with the goal of producing a new, high-performance separation membrane. Fig. 4 shows the basic
outline of the CO2 molecular gate function. The pathway
for gas molecules is occupied solely by CO2, which acts asa gate to block the passage of other gases. Consequently,
the amount of N2 or H2 permeating to the other side of
the membrane is greatly limited and high concentrationsof CO2 can be obtained. An RITE dendrimer, which possesses excellent CO2/H2 selectivity, is fixed stably in across-linked polymer matrix to form the separation
membrane. Fig. 5 shows a conceptual diagram of a material incorporating PAMAM dendrimer and its CO2/H2
separation properties, along with the data reported in
Science and other high-impact journals. Our PAMAM
dendrimer/polymer hybrid material shows the world’s
largest CO2/H2 selectivity of 30 or more.

Figure 2 Development of new absorbents

Figure 3 Reduction of CO2 capture energy by new absorbents

The outcomes of the COCS project were succeeded byanother project, “CO2 Ultimate Reduction in Steelmaking Process by Innovative Technology for Cool Earth 50”(COURSE50, from FY 2008 until FY 2012), aiming at
CO2 capture from the ironworks process gas.
We are now endeavoring to find new, more efficient,absorbents (CO2 capture energy: 2.0 GJ/ton-CO2) thatare appropriate for the above-mentioned project and arealso conducting tests of these absorbents in a processevaluation plant (30 ton-CO2/d processing capacity).
From FY 2007 to FY 2009, we worked on the researchand development of appropriate absorbents for CO2 cap-

Figure 4 Conceptual diagram of the CO2 molecular gate

16

R&D Activities

Chemical Research GroupIn the development of a commercial membrane module using the PAMAM dendrimer/polymer hybrid material, RITE has recently involved four major membranecompanies, Daicel Chemical Industries, Ltd.; KurarayCo., Ltd.; Nitto Denko Corporation; and Toray Industries. RITE and Nippon Steel Engineering Co., Ltd. will
test trial membrane modules with a recently developed
simulator and demonstrate the utility of the membrane
module for capturing CO2 from a pressurized gas streamsuch as that in coal gasification (Fig. 6).

Development of an energy-saving CO 2 -PSA
process using hydrophobic adsorbents
Novel hydrophobic adsorbents have been proposed
as CO2 adsorbents for the separation of CO2 from highpressure gas. CO2 adsorption capacities of 13X zeolite
and new synthetic adsorbents are shown in Fig. 7.
It has been confirmed that the adsorbent synthesized

Figure 7 Development of an energy-saving CO2-PSA process

in our study adsorbed considerable amounts of CO2 athigh pressure. It was also confirmed that they adsorbed
CO2 even in the presence of water vapor. From CO2 separation experiments using CO2-H2 mixed gas flows, it was
confirmed that the new adsorbent was effective for separating CO2 from the gas flow in the presence of water
vapor. Evaluation of the process cost is now under way.

Figure 5 Dendrimer incorporated membrane and its performance

Advanced stage of technology development on
CO2 capture by amine-based absorbents
CCS is a highly viable technology for tackling global
warming. It is strongly desirable that this be implemented in the market as soon as possible. Recent R&D on
CCS has focused on energy-saving, low-cost CO2 capture
technologies, demonstration and feasibility studies ofcommercial-scale systems, and so on. RITE began a new
project funded by METI in 2010FY, in which the research
objectives were to develop novel solid sorbents and to establish evaluation standards CO2 capture using liquidamine solvents.

Figure 6 Development of membrane modules incooperation with private companies

In developing this CO2 molecular gate membrane, the
RITE conducted joint research with many foreign partners such as the US Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in a recognizedproject for the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum(CSLF), the University of Texas at Austin and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Figure 8 Development of novel solid sorbents17

R&D Activities

Chemical Research Group

With respect to solid sorbents, amines can be immobilized onto a support or encapsulated within a porous
substrate (Fig. 8). Although solid sorbent techniques use
amine-based absorbents, similar to liquid amine solvent
methods, it has the advantage of a lower anticipated heat
duty for regeneration. RITE investigates novel solid sorbents using RITE-developed solvents through cooperative R&D activities with NETL, from which major research on the solid sorbents has already been presented.
Improved evaluation techniques are required to accelerate commercialization of liquid amine solvent methods. Process simulation for advanced amine solvents
must be established and improved so as to more accurately estimate the performance of scaled-up processes.
Also, the environmental impact of amine-based absorbents has become a crucial issue.

Under the theme of advanced CO2/H2 separation materials incorporating active functional agents, supercritical and subcritical CO2 acts as a structure-directing agent
for CO2 affinity materials. Fig. 9 shows a schematic of theconcept. Excellent CO2 separation membranes will beobtained by strict morphology regulation at the molecular scale. In the figure, supercritical CO2 regulates theCO2 affinity membrane materials into a morphology thatis preferential for CO2 permeation (State A). After removing supercritical CO2, the preferential morphology
will be maintained to form an excellent CO2 separation
membrane.

A d v a n c e d C O 2/ H 2 s e p a r a t i o n m a t e r i a l s
incorporating active functional agents (GCEP)RITE has conducted developmental work entitled“Sub-nano structure controlled materials: developmentof innovative gas separation membranes” as part of the
Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP) of Stanford
University, USA.
Figure 9 Concept of super critical (sc) CO2 structure directing method18

R&D Activities

CO2 Storage Research Group

CO2 Storage Research Group

CO2 Storage Technology Development for Practical Application
CO2 Geological Storage ProjectCO2 geological storage technology is a technology forsafely containing CO2, one of greenhouse gases, underground without releasing them in the air. It includes EOR
for enhancing oil recovery by injecting CO2 into oil reservoirs; CO2 sequestration into depleted gas fields; ECBM
for enhancing methane recovery by injecting CO2 into
coal seams; and storing CO2 in saline aquifer consisting
mainly of porous sandstone. RITE has been working on
storing CO2 in the saline aquifer, where CO2 could be stably stored for long period of time because of the presenceof mudstone layer above the sandstone of the aquifer,
which is capable of blocking gas and liquid with highsealing properties.
RITE has been developing basic technologies concerning geological characterization of saline aquifer,monitoring CO2 behavior, and predicting long-term
CO2behavior. Partnership with relevant research institutes, such as Japan CCS Co., Ltd (JCCS) and National
Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology(AIST) have been further encouraged and this year RITE
has also started a joint study with US national researchlaboratory (on developing technique for predicting CO2
behavior).
Followings are RITE’s research results for FY 2010.

Figure 2 Photo of OBC

account, RITE will move forward with deployment of thepermanent OBC system as a method that is suitable formonitoring CO2 behavior stored in offshore aquifer.
• Monitoring CO2 behavior in Nagaoka site
From July 2003 to January 2005, 10,400 tons of CO2
were injected into saline aquifer 1000 meters below theground surface of Iwanohara, Nagaoka site, Niigata Prefecture (Inpex Corporation). Even after the end of injection, RITE continues various on-site measurements ofwells to grasp CO2 behavior underground. This year,
RITE conducted physical logging, cement bond logging
and crosshole seismic tomography and confirmed CO2
was safely stored. Among many demonstration projects
worldwide, only Nagaoka project keeps monitoring CO2
behavior even after the end of injection and for that reason, its monitoring results have drawn attention from allover the world.

• Permanent OBC test study in real waters
RITE conducted performance assessment of permanent OBC (undersea cable) system for seismic wave exploration, which has been developed by RITE for last
three years, in real waters off Tomakomai, Hokkaido in
July through August, 2010. This test study gave us handson experience and know-how about how the cables
should be installed and removed and two-month consecutive measurement data, as well as observation data ofnatural micro-seismicity occurred in near and far areasof the test study site. After taking economic factors into

Figure 1 Outline of OBC test study

Figure 3 Physical logging

19

R&D Activities

CO2 Storage Research Group• To address technical issues arising in large-scale demonstration projects (in partnership with Japan CCS Co.,Ltd).
RITE has established technical partnership with Japan CCS Co., Ltd, the operator of implementing thelarge-scale CCS demonstration projects. In this fiscal
year, we have started physical measurements of core samples extracted at prospective pilot sites of Japan CCS. Applying this measurement technique to site characterization of possible large-scale demonstration sites, RITE
tries to standardize methods for reservoir characterization and physical measurements.
• To promote joint study with research laboratory in the
US (US-Japan joint study)
In a joint study with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, RITE has been studying the method for characterizing CO2 long-term behavior and the impact on geological formation at the time of CO2 injection by using
data obtained in Nagaoka site or CO2 injection pilot sites
in the US. We have started preparatory study and researches for the joint study this year. In the years after the
next fiscal year, it is scheduled to conduct physical measurements, including on-site observation of microseismic waves at CO2 injection sites.

Figure 4 Crosshole seismic tomography• Installation of X-ray CT scanner
To estimate how CO2 is stored after injected into pronouns sandstone formation of saline aquifer, RITE introduced X-ray CT scanner that is capable of visualizing
CO2 behavior and distribution in the pronouns structureof sandstone. The state-of-the-art X-ray CT scanner enables us to observe microscopic structure of sandstone inreal time, so that we could estimate CO2 behavior into
more detail by combining this experiment system withthe existing physical measurement techniques RITE hasdeveloped.

IZEC (International Zero Emission Coal)Project
Combining technology of high-efficiency coal power
generation with technology of CCS (CO2 capture andstorage), which enables zero emission, has been developed widely in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, China
and others and its large-scale demonstration projects
have been planned and implemented in many places.
While each technology and its know-hows are accumulated and improved through international partnership,such as CSLF (Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum),the efforts to demonstrate the technology need to be proceeded. Considering no economic incentives are expected from the CCS technology (except for EOR etc.), it isnecessary for the government to support the implementation as a national project, while collaborations between
public and private sectors are required to be reviewed forlasting operation of the project in the future.
In view of the situation above, this project is aimed atgathering information on state-of-the-art technology
trend of zero-emission coal fired power plant with CCS(CO2 Capture and Storage) projects and at helping making policies for the implementation of technology. RITE
has engaged in the following activities as part of FutureGen project since 2009 and IZEC (International Zero
Emission Coal) project since 2010.
(1) Gathering and analyzing information on high-efficiency coal fired power plant with CCS projects
in the world(2) Gathering and organizing information on legal

Figure 5 Photo of X-ray CT scanner

Based on the research results, RITE will focus on thefollowings in next fiscal year:20

R&D Activities

CO2 Storage Research Group(3) CO2 Simulation(4) CO2 Capture Technology(5) Progress on EOR development(6) Case study of demonstration projects(7) CCUS/System integration
Technical exchange with CNPC has been deepened
this year to the extent that RITE conducted research into
CCS-EOR pilot sites of CNPC’s Jilin oil fields in June.
Based on the research results, RITE has chosen the following three themes for China-Japan CCS-EOR collaboration(1) Research on CCS-EOR (CCUS) whole system(2) Research on reservoir characterization technique(3) Research on Microbial Restoration of Methane
Deposits with Subsurface CO2 Sequestration into
the Depleted Oil Fields
RITE will carefully study each theme to contribute torealizing low-carbon society and ensuring energy security.

framework, approval criteria and approval authorities in terms of CCS-ready in the world(3) Hearing and discussion with experts from overseas through the workshop to be held in JapanAs for CCS projects, we have been conducting a survey of current status of more than 60 pilot- and demonstration projects mainly in Europe, the United States andAustralia. As for strategies for introducing CCS, we havebeen conducting research on policies and strategies of
the UK, Norway, the Netherland, Germany, the UnitedStates, Canada and Australia etc. It is noteworthy that the
UK requires a new coal-fired power plant to be CCSready when its construction is approved and permitted,
and other EU member states need to incorporate requirement of CCS-ready into domestic laws in June, 2011. In
Japan, a draft of Strategic Energy Plan of Japan clearlystates that coal-fired power plants for future planning are
required to review possible equipment of CCS technology by 2030, so we conduct a survey of CCS-ready trend inEurope in that context. Our 2010 research will focus on
detailed information on approval criteria and progress
toward the implementation, particularly, in the UK and
Germany.
“Zero-emission coal-fired plant (IZEC) workshop” isscheduled to be held in February, 2011, where the regulatory authorities in EU member states and operators oflarge-scale demonstration project are invited to discuss
their efforts and update progress toward CCS implementation and exchange opinions on such issues.

China CCS-EOR Project
CCS, the technology to capture and store CO2 fromfossil fuel, is essential as countermeasures against global
warming before 2100. In particular, CCS-EOR which canbring commercial advantage by increasing oil recovery is
expected to be implemented at early stage.
In the United States, CCS-EOR utilizing natural CO2
has already been developed in a scale of 60 million-tons
per year. CCS-EOR is further expected to target CO2
emissions from coal-fired power stations which releases
large amount of CO2 emissions for energy unit.
In recent years, China’s CO2 emissions have been increasing year by year and become the largest in the worldin 2008. Japan also emits a large amount of CO2 whichcorresponds to the 4th largest one. Therefore, the collaboration between China and Japan in CCS-EOR study has
a very significant meaning from the viewpoint of preventing global warming internationally.
As part of technical exchange with China National
Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), RITE held the 2nd
CCS-EOR workshop in April in Tokyo, following the 1st
one in last fiscal year, and discussions and exchange of
opinions were made on the technical themes below:(1) CO2 Storage Basic Research(2) CO2 Monitoring

Figure 6 Outline of CCS-EOR

21

501*$4
Commemorative Ceremony of the 20th Anniversary of RITE
“Gift for Future Generation - Low Carbon Society for the Beautiful Earth”
Marking the 20th year since RITE was founded here in Kyoto in
July 1990 receiving support and cooperation from the government,
industrial community, and universities to play a role to realize New
Earth 21 program proposed by the Japanese government to the world,
we held commemorative events on November 2nd, 2010.
Facility tour of our headquarters held in the morning was attended by around 40 guests.
At the start of the tour, Senior Managing Director Takashi Honjo made an address saying“Our technologies accumulated over 20 years are now going to blossom” and introduced
R&D activities of each group. After that, participants visited the laboratories in J&S
memorial building etc.
In the afternoon, memorial lecture, commemorative ceremony, and reception were heldat Hotel Granvia Kyoto. Attendance of some 250 people from industry, government, andacademia made the events successful.
[Memorial lecture]
Kyoto University President Dr. Hiroshi Matsumoto delivered a lecture titled “Ars Vivendi
and Use of Space Energy.”[Commemorative ceremony]
Chairman Takashi Imai made a speech on behalf of RITE saying “We will continue towork actively on developing innovative technologies to find a breakthrough in the global
environmental issues and promote their practical application” and introduced the slogan
to commemorate our 20th anniversary, “Gift for Future Generation - Low Carbon Society
for the Beautiful Earth.” Following that, remarks by guests of honor were given, namely,
by Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Akihiro Ohata (read by Deputy DirectorGeneral for Industrial Science and Technology Policy Junya Nishimoto), Kansai Economic
Federation Chairman Hiroshi Shimozuma, and Kyoto Prefecture Governor Keiji Yamada.
Then, a brief overview of activities of RITE was provided.
[Reception]
President Yoshihisa Akiyama made an opening address on behalf of RITE, and Kyoto
Culture Foundation President Teiichi Aramaki, who had given support in establishing
RITE as then-governor of Kyoto prefecture, made a congratulatory speech. Following the
speeches, kagami-biraki (breaking the circular lid of a sake barrel with a wooden mallet tocelebrate the beginning of an event) was performed and former President of RITE Shoichiro
Kobayashi, Adviser of the Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc., proposed a toast. After that, theparticipants enjoyed the reception in a relaxed atmosphere. To conclude the party, SeniorVice President Yoichi Kaya thanked the guests for their attendance, and asked their kind
support to RITE in future.

Facility tour of our headquarters

Commemorative ceremony

22501*$4
The 1300th Anniversary of Nara Heijo-kyo Capital
Technologies developed in Kansai Science City -See the future from Heijo Palace SitePlanning, Survey, and Public Relations Group

The technologies developed in Kansai Science City-See the future from Heijo Palace Sitewas held at the Heijo Palace Site on November 5 to 7, 2010.
Nine research institutes including RITE participated in this event to promote an understanding of the activities on going at Kansai Science City. The popularity of the celebration of
the 1300th Anniversary of Nara Heijo-kyo
Capital boosted the attendance to reach
11,000 visitors in three days.
RITE exhibited poster and showpieces
about global warming countermeasure technologies such as CCS and biorefinery, scenario-making for global warming mitigation, industry-institute cooperation/public relations.
The RITE promotion video was shown
and RITE staff gave a quiz show about environmental problems to introduce RITE’s activities and social impact.

Symposium on Innovative Environmental Technologies-The Realization of Low Carbon and Sustainable SocietyPlanning, Survey, and Public Relations GroupThe symposium entitled “Symposium on Innovative Environmental Technologies ~The
Realization of Low Carbon and Sustainable Society~” was held on December 2, 2010 at
Nadao Hall in Tokyo.
The symposium was organized by RITE, and supported by the Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry(METI)/the Chemical Society of Japan/the Society of Chemical
Engineers, Japan/the Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry/
the Japan Society of Energy and Resources/the Japan Institute of Energy. A total of 406
attendees from METI, the Ministry of the Environment as well as industry and academia
from various fields gathered to hear the latest advances in evironmental technologies.
The symposium was opened by Dr. Yoichi Kaya who delivered the keynote address.
Rite experts from each research groups reported the outcomes and outlooks of theirresearches such as CCS
technology, biorefinery
technology and scenarios
for mitigating g lobal
warming, with thecurrent trends of theworld.

23

501*$4
IIASA-RITE International Symposium 2010
Systems Analysis GroupThe IIASA-RITE International Symposium 2010 was held at Nadao Hall in Tokyo
on February 8th, 2010. This symposium was co-hosted by the International Institute forApplied Systems Analysis (IIASA), the Japan Committee for IIASA, and the ResearchInstitute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE) with support from the Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan (METI).
We are honored to have a variety of leading experts including Prof. Detlof vonWinterfeldt, a director of the IIASA, Prof. Nabojsa Nakicenovic from the IIASA, Dr. Seita
Emori from the National Institute for Environmental Studies, Prof. Nobuo Mimura from
Ibaraki University, Ms. Junko Edahiro from e's Inc., Yoichi Kaya, a director general of RITE,
and Keigo Akimoto from RITE. They introduced the latest research outcomes, focusing on
the necessity of system analysis to solve climate change, the importance of scientific views
and decision making under uncertainty, thenecessity of not only mitigation measures but
also its best mix with adaptation measures,and the necessity of a long-term view/aview of international fairness for sustainable
development.
We had an attendance of 230 people fromindustries, ministries and universities. Their
active discussion motivated us to dedicate
further efforts to our research and development.

Many visitors attended our seminar and exhibition booth at BioJapan2010(World Business Forum)
Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology Group

The World Business Forum organized by the BioJapan Organizing Committee andNikkei Business Publications Inc. was held at Pacifico Yokohama from 29th September
to 1st October 2010. Director, Dr. Hideaki Yukawa, moderated the seminar on “Green
Innovation” and our group displayed
the highly efficient bio-conversion
technology ‘RITE-Bioprocess’, alongwith posters and a video presentation,
which allowed to introduce in our
activities in detail. In addition, ourcorporate strategic alliance partners
joined the exhibition and their panels
were displayed also in the RITE
booth. We are planning to present
and participate in the exhibition
at BioJapan 2011 too where wewill show our latest progress andachievements.
RITE exhibition booth at BioJapan 201024

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The Second Japan-China CCS-EOR Workshop
CO2 Storage Research GroupThe second Japan-China CCS-EOR workshop was held on April 5 and 6, 2010 at Grand
Palace, in Tokyo, which was co-hosted by RITE and China National Petroleum Corporation(CNPC) and aimed at exchanging information on CCS-EOR technologies between Japanand China. About 70 stakeholders from Japan and China attended the workshop.
Following opening statements from the governments (Coal Division of the Ministryof Economy, Trade and Industry and Department of Climate Change of the National
Development and Reform Commission), experts from Japan and China reported on CO2
Storage Basic Research; CO 2 Monitoring; CO2 Simulation; CO2 Capture Technology;
Progress on EOR development; Case study of demonstration projects; and CCUS/System
integration over two days. Active discussions weretaken place on each issue.
Based on the results of the first and second
workshops, Japan and China have agreed tocollaborate on the following three themes on CCSEOR:• Research on CCS-EOR (CCUS) whole system• Research on reservoir characterization technique• Research on Microbial Restoration of Methane
Deposits with Subsurface CO2 Sequestration into
the Depleted Oil Fields
Opening statement of Organizer

CCS Technical Workshop 2010, CO2 Monitoring Technology
CO2 Storage Research GroupOn December 9th 2010, CCS Technical Workshop 2010 was held at Hotel Granvia Kyoto
organized by RITE and supported by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Central ResearchInstitute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI), Japan Society of Energy and Resources (JSER)
and Japan CCS Co., Ltd. (JCCS). 169 related persons attended from companies, universities,
research institutes and government agencies.
The speakers were Tip Meckel, The University of Texas on “Summary of current regional
carbon sequestration partnerships activities, USA”; Wawan Gunawan A. Kadir, InstituteTechnology Bandung on “Energy policies, geophysical challenges and 4D microgravity
development for reservoir monitoring during EOR (water and CO2 injection) in Indonesia”; Masanori Abe, JCCS on “Japan is moving forward to large-scale CCS demonstrations”; Milovan Urosevic, Curtin University on “Otway basin project stage I: results of seismic
monitoring” ; Rob Arts, TNO on “Fourteen years’
experience of monitoring CO2 injection in the Utsira
Sand at Sleipner, offshore Norway” ; Takahashi
Akihisa, Geo-Science Laboratory on “Toward
offshore CCS seismic monitoring -Development of
permanent OBC system-“ ; and Ziqiu Xue, RITE on“Development of the technology to evaluate CO2
storage based on seismic survey data”.
Researchers in RITE also delivered poster
presentation. Fruitful discussion was made about
CO2 monitoring technology in CCS field among theparticipants.
Opening statement of Organizer

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GHGT-11 to be held in Kyoto in 2012
Office for GHGT-11

The 11th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies (GHGT-11)
will be held in Kyoto in November 2012. The GHGT conferences are international
conferences guarded by IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (IEAGHG), which wasestablished as an Implementing Agreement under the International Energy Agency, and inwhich RITE participates to represent Japan.
When GHGT-6 was held in Kyoto in October 2002, RITE took the lead in hosting
the conference. The GHGT conferences are held every two years rotating between North
America, Europe and Asia. The series will return to Asia after ten years, GHGT-11 again
being held in Japan and co-organized by RITE and IEAGHG.
The GHGT conference series has established itself as the principal international
conference on greenhouse gas mitigation technologies especially on CCS (CO2 Capture andStorage), drawing experts from across the world. GHGT-11 will be a four-day conference
that includes keynote speeches, plenary sessions, around six parallel technical sessions andposter sessions. The sessions will allow about 250 oral presentation to be made, and 700
posters to be presented.
Call for paper will open in the autumn of 2011. Further schedule and detailed
information on GHGT-11 will be put on the websites of RITE and IEAGHG. GHGT-10 heldin Amsterdam in September 2010 was attended by some 1,600 delegates, but only 200 ofthem were from Asia. In order to increase Asia’s presence at GHGT-11 to be held in Japan,
we would like to invite all of you who are working on global warming to submit papers
and attend the conference, to enhance global cooperation on research and development forgreenhouse gas control technologies.
1. Overview of GHGT-11(1) Dates: Sun. November 18 - Thur. November 22, 2012
(Venue: Kyoto International Conference Center)(2) Estimated number of attendees: 1,600(3) Organized by: RITE & IEAGHG(4) To be supported by METI etc.
(5) Programme
November 19: Keynote addresses (Plenary session)
November 19-22: around 6 parallel Technical sessions, Poster sessions
November 22 PM: Conclusions, Closing session(6) Social events
Welcome Reception (November 18)
Networking Reception (November 20)
Conference Dinner (November 21)

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Themes of Technical Sessions at GHGT-10 (September 2010, Amsterdam)
CapturePre-Combustion, Post-Combustion, Membranes, Techno-Economic Comparisons, OxyCombustion, Novel Systems, etc.

Utilisation

ECBM and other Uses, EOR

Storage

Modelling Tools, Coal Bed Storage, Risk Assessment, Seals, Saline Aquifer, Field Studies, Capillary
and Solubility Trapping, etc.

Integrated

Integrated CCS Systems, System Flexibility: Need for Flexibility, CO2 Transportation, Health and
Safety Issues, etc.

Demonstrations

Demonstration Projects, New Developments, Experience with Storage, Lessons Learnt

PolicyScenarios, Policy Instruments

Negative Emissions

Capture from Air - Biomass and CCS, Capture from Air - Mineralisation Routes

Legal

Legal Issues and Regulatory Frameworks

Public Perception

Public Perception and CCS, Learning from Projects, Communication and CCS

2. Schedule Outline (subject to change)(1) Call for Papers / Development of Technical Programme• Autumn of 2011: Call for Paper open (abstracts submittable)• Summer of 2012: Notification of paper acceptance or rejection• October 2012: Full paper due / Final programme established and listed on web site(2) Registration• Spring and summer of 2012: Early bird registration open
• From the next day that Early bird registration closes: Late registration open
Web pages on GHGT-11* For information in Japanese, please visit our web site
http://www.rite.or.jp/Japanese/ghgt11/ghgt11.html* For information in English, please visit http://www.ghgt.info/

GHGT-11 invitation video27

2010 Paper, Presentation and Publication

Systems Analysis Group

Systems Analysis Group

28

2010 Paper, Presentation and Publication

Systems Analysis Group

29

2010 Paper, Presentation and Publication

Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology Group

Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology Group

30

2010 Paper, Presentation and Publication

Chemical Rsearch Group

Chemical Rsearch Group

31

2010 Paper, Presentation and Publication

CO2 Storage Research Group

CO2 Storage Rsearch Group

32

2010 Paper, Presentation and Publication

CO2 Storage Research Group33

Notes34

Research Institute of Innovative
Technology for the Earth
9-2, Kizugawadai, Kizugawa-Shi, Kyoto
619-0292 JAPANTEL. +81-774-75-2300 FAX. +81-774-75-2314

URL http://www.rite.or.jp