2007
vol. 02

Annual Report

Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth

Photogragh by SHOGAKUKAN◇◆ CONTENTS ◆◇■Foreword
Importance of Development of CCS Technology and Renewable Materials

01

Yutaka Suzuki
Vice President, University of Hyogo■R&D Activities
Systems Analysis Group

Studies that aim to contribute to international discussions
and negotiations on climate change policy

02

Chemical Research Group

Looking ahead to future CO₂ separation technologies
and their challenges and innovations

04

CO₂ Sequestration Research GroupR&D of CO₂ Geological Storage Project
R&D of CO₂ Ocean Sequestration Project

08
10

Plant Research Group

Carbon-sequestration with the use of Plants and Trees

12

Microbiology Research Group

Development of biorefinery technology -Utilizing

14

microbiological functions-■Topics

16■2006 Paper, Presentation and Publication

19

Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the EarthForeword

Importance of Development of
CCS Technology and Renewable Materials
Yutaka Suzuki, Vice President
University of Hyogo

The Fourth Assessment Report of IPCC, “Climate Change 2007” states that it is very highconﬁdence that climate change originated from human activities, using climate models(atmosphere-ocean coupled general circulation models). The major cause is CO2 which isdischarged into the atmosphere by burning of fossil fuels. CO2 is a green house gas which accumulates in the atmosphere causing climate warming (generally called “global warming”). Fromthe beginning of the Industrial Revolution, starting with the development of a highly fueleﬃcient steam engine by James Watt, we began to use large quantities of fossil fuels, and steam
locomotives that symbolized the advancements of the Industrial Revolution began operating
early in the 19th century. As we are now in the early stages of the 21st century, civilized society
dependent on fossil fuels has created a serious problem called global warming in only a 200
year time-frame and sustainability of our society is in doubt.
The earth is constantly changing and evolving. But the timescale of change is on the orderof several hundred thousand years or several million years. In the Triassic period, 200 million
years ago, plants ﬂourished and dinosaurs roamed the continents of the earth. Since that time,
fossil fuels have formed. It is the ways of modern civilization that have led to the excavation offossil fuels from underground or in seabeds and consumed large quantities of fossil fuels in ablink of an eye, as compared to the earth’s timescale and waste products of CO2 have been
discarded into the atmosphere. The result is climate warming, which is formed by the subtle
energy balance between the atmosphere and ocean. Warming changes the amount of precipitation and regional patterns of precipitation and greatly aﬀects vegetation and agricultural
systems. Warming is melting glaciers and moving water from land to sea raising sea levels.
The basic principles for preventing global warming are to constrain consumption of fossil
fuels, the major cause, and leave dependence on them ultimately. As energy sources to replacefossil fuels, nuclear energy and natural circulation-type renewable energies are alternatives. It
is with a sense of urgency that we need to develop them in order to sustain an increasing world
population and development of the global economy. The world now depends on fossil fuels for
90% of its enormous energy consumption needs, however, it is impossible to convert ourenergy in a short period of time (on the order of 100 years). Therefore, it has been deemednecessary to develop CCS (carbon capture and storage) technology, which separates andcollects CO2 discharged from the consumption of fossil fuels without discharge into the atmosphere and stores it in appropriate locations. As fossil fuels are also used as raw materials inlarge quantities, it is necessary to develop alternative natural circulation-type renewable materials.
RITE has achieved signiﬁcant results in the development of CCS technology and renewablematerials, which is a leading research institute not only in Japan but around the world. We
expect and look forward to greater eﬀorts in the future.

01

RITE Today 2007

R&D Activities

Systems Analysis Group

Systems Analysis Group
Studies that aim to contribute to international discussions
and negotiations on climate change policy energy eﬃciency targets are expected to be moreeasily accepted by many countries. It is well known
that Japan’s energy eﬃciency is high and we havemade an evaluation of the eﬀects of introduction ofenergy eﬃciency targets using Japanese eﬃciency
levels as a reference by use of the expanded worldenergy model. APP, which was launched in January
2006 aims at technology cooperation involving developing countries of large emissions such as China andIndia which are not obligated to reducing emissions
under KP. We also evaluated the eﬀects of energy
eﬃciency target introductions for the six participating
countries of APP and determined that approximately
the same amount of emission reductions are possible
at a much smaller cost through introductions of thesetargets at current Japanese levels with regard to thepower, steel and cement sectors for the six countries
to that of the KP case. This result is valuable in showing the eﬀectiveness of the APP regime in terms ofemission reductions.

1. Overview of research activities
Systems Analysis Group conducts policy-related
studies of global warming mitigation. The current
major subjects are 1) quantitative determination of
the atmospheric concentration stabilization level of
GHGs that is stipulated qualitatively in Article 2 of
UNFCCC in order not to interfere with the climate
system, and Post Kyoto Protocol that will stipulate theinternational regime of emission reductions after
2012. The latter is rather urgent and its oﬃcial discussion has now started. The former is an essential issueof great importance that inﬂuences the latter. In addition to these issues under UNFCC, APP (Asia PaciﬁcPartnership on Clean Development and Climate) oneof whose aims is emission reductions through diﬀusion of energy eﬃciency technologies has beenlaunched. This is a regional agreement based on a socalled action-oriented approach. The ﬁgure showsthese issues and the objectives of the two research
projects of RITE, “PHOENIX” and “Beyond 2010”
with respect to the related international trends.

3. “PHOENIX”
PHOENIX stands for Pathways toward Harmonyof Environment, Natural Resources and Industry
Complex and attempts to determine a desirable
target for long-term emission reductions consideringboth warming impacts and emission reduction costs.
In the past, the approach by use of integrated assessment models has been known for the above objectives. The integrated assessment model typicallyevaluates the warming impacts in monetary terms,
expresses them as functions of temperature rise, andexplores such temperature rise as minimizes the sumof mitigation costs and damage costs, while also
exploring the corresponding concentration stabilization levels of GHGs.
However, the warming impacts range over various
areas and the cost minimization approach is not freefrom personal value judgments in monetary evaluation of such impacts as on biodiversity, human healthetc. In addition to the above problem, the approachveils the regional distribution of impacts when summing up impacts throughout the world and also inevitably makes some value judgments on equity between
future generations in obtaining the total sum of timeseries impacts. Thus, the PHOENIX project certainly
intends to make quantitative evaluations of warming
impacts by region and by time point but not necessarily in monetary terms during the evaluation process,2. “Beyond 2010”
In last year’s RITE Today booklet, we introduced
an analysis of emission reduction measures andreduction costs required to achieve top-down emission reductions which are imposed on each country(top-down targets) according to various by employing a world energy model having a high regional resolution, which is intended to contribute to international discussions on Post Kyoto Protocol. Expanding
this energy model, we have conducted a study toevaluate emission reduction eﬀects and costs ofimposing energy eﬃciency targets or speciﬁc emission targets on each industry sector (bottom-up
target). The proposal of bottom-up targets is being
made because economic growth and CO₂ emissions
have a strong correlation with each other and suchinternational regimes as imposing a cap on emissions
by country like KP are considered diﬃcult to fall into
agreement, especially developing countries that aim
at large economic growth and are unwilling to participate in such regimes as imposing emission caps oneach country and may interfere with their economic
growth. In order to achieve both economic growthand emission reductions, introduction of high-energy
eﬃciency technologies is inevitable and therefore
02

RITE Today 2007

R&D Activities

Systems Analysis Group

2200 when the collapse takes place. Other kinds ofimpacts than the theromohaline circulation were
evaluated by region and at the time points of 2050,
2100, and 2150.
The ﬁnal step is to obtain expert judgments on thedesirable level of stabilization by providing all theseevaluation results of impacts and mitigation costs.
However, the results spread over wide areas andamount to a large volume, and we asked for preliminary judgments of experts on the relative importanceof alleviations for ﬁve kinds of impacts which result
from stabilizing at diﬀerent levels. From the judgment
results, we inferred the desirable level that each of theexperts suggest, and ﬁnally provided to each of theexperts all the important results of our study together
with the desirable level which each of the experts is
considered to suggest from the preliminary judgment,
and obtained the ﬁnal judgment of the experts on thedesirable level of stabilization. For the ﬁnal judgment,
we prepared tables, graphs and geographic ﬁgures tohelp them understand easily the full evaluation results
on impacts and mitigation. We also inquired as tohow much importance the expert placed on each of
the impacts, mitigation costs, regional diﬀerences andtemporal diﬀerences in their judgment of a desirable
stabilization level. We are now analyzing the expert
judgment results and will publicize the results, which
can be expected to oﬀer signiﬁcant contributions toclimate policy making.

but it is at the ﬁnal stage that value judgments are
made on impacts together with mitigation costs toseek the desirable level of concentration stabilization.
The detailed procedure on this approach is as follows;
the future reference scenario of emissions is generated
based on the IPCC SRES scenario, emission paths of650, 550 and 450 ppm stabilization are set up based on
the IPCC WG1 stabilization paths; then the climatechange is calculated for each of the paths and various
kinds of impacts are evaluated for the calculated
climate changes; the mitigation costs are calculated inorder to achieve the stabilization down from thereference path. Quantitative evaluations were possible
only for sea level rise, agriculture products, humanhealth, terrestrial biodiversity, water resources andocean acidiﬁcation as continuous events and ocean
thermohaline circulation as abrupt and catastrophic
events. In addition to these impacts, those on forestry,ﬁshery, livestock, other industries, extreme weather,west Antarctic ice-sheets and Greenland ice are being
studied around the world and their impacts are
expected to become large as a result of climate change
but the quantitative evaluations for the above emission paths were hardly possible. As for the thermohaline circulation, the impact of the circulation collapse
is not very clear but it is not unreasonable to assume
extremely large impacts on ocean ecology and relatedareas. Catastrophic events like this should be evaluated in terms of occurrence probability rather thanthe damage size from the viewpoint of precautionary
measures and we calculated the probability of thecirculation collapse for each of the stabilization emission paths and the reference path, by use of the evaluation result of the collapse by Stocker et al and theprobability density function of climate sensitivity.
Here it should be noted that it is between 2150 and

As described in the above, the Systems Analysis
Group endeavors to incorporate new methodologies
and tools into the accumulated expertise of the pastand is carrying out research to help solve current
important issues regarding climate policy.
<Projects of RITE>＜Convention of Climate Change＞

PHOENIX(2002-2007)

UNFCCC

Evaluation of desirable concentration
stabilization level in consideration of bothwarming impacts and mitigation costs

Art. 2 (Objective): Stabilization of atmospheric GHG
concentrations at a level that would prevent
dangerous anthropogenic interference with theclimate system

Evaluation of economic responses bysector to emission reductions and costs ofmitigation by considering linkage between
sectorsArt. 3 (Principle): For the benefits of present andfuture generations; Full consideration of vulnerable
countries; Precautionary†measures for serious or
irreversible damage; Sustainable development
Dialogue on long-term cooperation

Kyoto Protocol
2008- 2012

KP Art. 3.9
KP Art. 9

Beyond 2010(2003-2008)

Evaluation ofvarious top-down
targets

Quantitative evaluation of various
emission reductions regimes

Evaluation ofvarious bottomup targets

Post Kyoto Protocol

International regime of emission
reductions after 2012?

KP Art.9; Review of KP itself
KP Art.3.9; Stipulates on future commitment ofAnnex I countries after 2012

Asia Pacific Partnership on
Clean Development andClimate; Japan is Chair ofsteel and cement sectors

Evaluation of energy
efficiencies etc. withboundaries andconditions clarified
IEA Is constructing
evaluation indicators ofenergy efficiency according
to Gleneagles Summit<Trends complementary to KP Regime>

Fig. International Trends concerning Climate Policy and Aim of RITE Research

03

RITE Today 2007

R&D Activities

Chemical Research Group

Chemical Research Group
Looking ahead to future CO₂ separation technologies andtheir challenges and innovations

Technology development or practical application time

Increase of economic efficiency

Cessation of thermohaline circulation in theocean as a result of global warming, which will
have a destructive inﬂuence on the earth’s environment, is an issue that needs to be addressed.
We need to determine to what extent the CO₂
concentration in the atmosphere should becontrolled scientiﬁcally in order to prevent thisphenomenon. The probability of cessation ofthermohaline circulation in the ocean is several
percent at a CO₂ concentration of 550 ppm, andthis probability increases by several tens ofpercent at a CO₂ concentration of 650 ppm.
In the Stern Review released last year, in spiteof the fact that the above catastrophic phenomenon was not taken into consideration, it waspredicted that all countries in the world will
suﬀer from a 5% GDP loss due to global warming
if the global warming problem is not addressed.
The review stated that a contribution of 1 % of
GDP to combat global warming is reasonable,from an economical point of view.
A CO₂ concentration of 550 ppm is twice theconcentration that was present during the Industrial Revolution. If we set a target CO₂ concentration of 550 ppm for 2100, it has been predictedthat not only energy saving, fuel switching,renewable energy sources (solar cells, wind
power and biomass) and nuclear energy, but also
CO₂ capture and underground storage will benecessary to achieve this goal. As the cost of CO₂
capture from CO₂ sources is estimated to be 70 %of the total cost of CO₂ capture and undergroundstorage, it is important for the commercializationof this technology that the CO₂ capture cost forCO₂ capture and storage (CCS) is reduced.
Conversion technologies of fossil energy aregoing to progress, and we consider the power
generation system of a boiler steam turbine

evolving into a combined cycle with a gas turbine
for power generation and a combined cycle witha fuel cell. Various CO₂ capture technologies suchas chemical absorption, physical absorption,
membrane separation, and the oxy-fuel method
have been developed.
Progress in these technologies will result fromdevelopment of the best combination between
fuel conversion processes and CO₂ capture
processes, so that CO₂ capture technologies thatwill consistently increase the economic beneﬁts
of technical visions, as shown in Figure 1, aredeveloped.
Our chemical research group studies various
CO₂ capture technologies, with a special focus on
chemical absorption and membrane separation
methods.
We can use chemical absorption to reduce theCO₂ capture cost for ﬂue gas in an ironworks
factory to 3700 JPY/t-CO₂. We are developing achemical absorbent to reduce this CO₂ capture
cost to 2000 JPY/t-CO₂. Moreover, we havediscovered an excellent, world-class membranematerial for the separation of CO₂ from H2containing gas. We are engaged in the development of the structure of a new membrane composed of this material.

NGCC
+CA
PC
+CA

PC: Pulverized coal combustion boiler
NGCC: Natural gas combined cycle
IGCC: Integrated coal gasification combined cycle
ACC: Advanced Combined Cycle

PC+
Oxyfuel

IGCC+PA
CA: Chemical absorption
PA: Physical absorption
MS: Membrane separation

ACC+Oxyfuel

IGCC
+MS

IGCC
+MS（
+MS
（ or PA）+SOFC

Fig.1 Vision of power plant and CO2 capture

04

RITE Today 2007

R&D Activities

Chemical Research Group

Development of CO₂ capture technology thatuses a chemical absorption system
CO₂ capture by chemical absorption has thepotential to be used in practical applications forlarge stationary point sources of CO₂ in the near
future, and a ﬁve-year project to this end wasstarted in 2004 in collaboration with four Japanese companies.
The objective of this project is to reduce theCO₂ capture cost to half that of the existing technology for the ﬂue gas (blast furnace gas) stream
in an integrated steel works. The main objectives,shown in Figure 2, are the development of newabsorbents to enable the capture of CO₂ with lessenergy use, and the development of a heat utilization technology to use waste heat at steel works
to supply low cost steam for regenerating CO₂.
Objectives
Reduce CO2 capture cost by half

ChemicalAbsorption

Blust furnace gas

Steric hindered groups：
R1, R2, R3, R4

R1First Step

OH

Second Step・Screening
・
Screening commercial
commercialamines
amines・Formulate amine
・Formulateaminecompounds
compounds
・Design・
Design andandsynthesize
synthesizenew
newaminesamines

R4

Example of amine molecule

Amino group: N・Electron・Electron donor
donor
・Bond with
・Bond
withCO
CO22 （Formation（Formation ofofcarbamate
carbamateor
orHCO
HCO3 3Anion）
Anion）
・Proton acceptor
・Protonacceptor（Formation（Formation of protonated cation）
・Primary，Secondary，・Primary，Secondary，Tertiary
Tertiaryamines、
amines，
NumberNumberof
ofamineaminegroups
groupsFig.3 Development of new absorbents

From these investigations, three type of highperformance absorbents (RITE-3A,-4A,-4B),
that showed diﬀerent characteristics, were developed. The energy for CO₂ capture of the best ofthese absorbents is estimated to be 2.9 [GJ/tCO₂]. This value is very low compared to the 4.0[GJ/t-CO₂] for a standard MEA (monoethanol
amine) solution, and is close to the project goalof 2.5 [GJ/t-CO₂], as shown Figure 4.

ReboileReboilerr

Utilization of low
grade waste heatin steel works

Low cost of CO2
absorption System

Energy of CO2 capture [GJ/t-CO2]

Steel production：
3.8 Mtonne/y
CO2 emission ：2.6 Mtonne/y in blust furnace gas

C
R3

Regenerator

New absorbent

R6
C

R2

CO2 22％(CO,H2 etc.)

Investigation of
pre-treatment

・Electron・Electron acceptor
acceptor (Activation(Activation ofof aminoamino groups)
groups)・Hydrophilic・Hydrophilic （Increase(Increaseininwater
watersolubility）
solubility)
・Formation
・Formation ofofhydrogenhydrogenbonds
bonds（Elevation（Elevation ofofboiling point, Control of volatility）

R5

N

99％ CO2

Pretreatment

Hydroxyl groups: OH・Control・Control ofofcarbamate
carbamateformation
formation
・Increase CO・Increase
CO22desorption
desorption
・Reduce heat・Reduceheatofofreaction
reaction

Utilization as fuelcontained 2% of CO2

AbsorberSteel Worksdeﬁciencies in the amines, were prepared andtheir performance was investigated.

Project target：2.5 GJ/t-CO2
Future target ：1.8 GJ/t-CO2

Fig.2 COCS project (Cost Saving CO2 Capture System)

RITE mainly develops new absorbents. The
most desirable characteristics for new absorbents
are: a lower heat of reaction with CO₂, fast CO₂
absorbance, and easy separation from CO₂. If
this is achieved, CO₂ can be captured from a gas
stream with a lower energy input. Among thesolvents tested for CO₂ capture, amine solutions
have shown the best performance.
Figure 3 shows a plan for the screening anddevelopment of new absorbents. As a ﬁrst step,
the reaction characteristics, such as the reaction
rate of CO₂, the amounts of CO₂ absorbed andthe heat of reaction with CO₂, of almost 100
samples of commercial amine solvents selectedby the plan shown in Figure 3, were analyzed
using laboratory apparatus. Furthermore, compound amine solutions, that can compensate for

4

4.0
3.0

3

3.0

2.9
2.5

2
1
0
MEA

（Conventional）

RITE-3A-4A-4B

Results of continuous absorption
and desorption test by KEPCO

Project
targetFig.4 Energy of CO2 capture target and results

The second step of the project has also been
carried out, in which new types of amine compounds, designed and prepared based on thecurrent knowledge, are evaluated by a similar
method. Furthermore, research on the optimum
conditions for the chemical absorption system
has been carried out, so that the best performance can be obtained from the new absorbents.
Currently, the aim of the project is to reduce theCO₂ capture energy down to the target value.
05

RITE Today 2007

R&D Activities

Chemical Research Groupthe amount of N₂ or H₂ permeating to the otherside of the membrane is greatly limited and highconcentrations of CO₂ can be obtained. The
membrane of the RITE dendrimer shows excellent CO₂/N₂ selectivity of more than 1000, which
would have the potential to replace an amine
solution. Furthermore, the dendrimer has theworld record for CO₂/H₂ selectivity, 730. The
dendrimer membrane can attain a CO₂ separation cost of 1,500 JPY/t-CO₂ or less when themembrane system is used for CO₂ separationfrom a pressurized gas stream such as the product from a water-gas shift reaction.
In developing this CO₂ molecular gate membrane, RITE conducted joint research with the
US Department of Energy’s National Energy
Technology Laboratory (NETL) as a recognizedproject of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership
Forum (CSLF). Testing of the dendrimer composite membrane developed by RITE was carriedout at the NETL (Figure 7).

Development of new techniques for regenerating
the chemical absorbent solution
A regeneration technique using a material that
accelerates CO₂ desorption under conditions
where there is a pressure diﬀerence is being developed, in order to reduce the energy consumptionof the regeneration process of the chemical absorption method, as shown in Fig. 5.
Up to now, the following observations havebeen made: Desorption can be accelerated by thematerial and the processing conditions, which can
reduce energy consumption by over 1/2 in comparison with high-temperature heating regeneration of the absorbent solution in the conventional
chemical absorption method.
At present, cooperation with companies is being
promoted, to apply this method to the separationof CO₂ from ﬂue gas, chemical processes, bioprocesses, etc., while development is progressing withthe aim of further reducing the energy consumption.
AbsorberOutletgas

Regenerator

CO2
Vacuum pump

N2, H2
0.36, 0.29 nm

CO20.33nmFeed
Pressuredifference

Desorption
accelerating
material

Permeate
Modified dendrimer

Feed
gas

(Heater)

The pathway for gas molecules is occupied mainly by
CO2, which acts as a gate to block the passage of othergases. Consequently, excellent CO2 selectivity can beobtained

Fig.6 Molecular gate membrane

Solution pumpFig.5 Concept of accelerated regeneration method

CO₂ and H₂ separation with a polymeric membrane
One promising means of lowering the cost of
CO₂ separation is the development of new, highperformance CO₂ separation membranes thatallow CO₂ recovery via membrane separation.
RITE is currently developing a CO₂ moleculargate membrane with the goal of producing a new,high-performance separation membrane. Figure
6 shows the basic outline of the CO₂ moleculargate function. The pathway for gas molecules is
occupied solely by CO₂, which acts as a gate toblock the passage of other gases. Consequently,

L= 1100 mm, φ= 1 inch, containing 100 hollow fibers
Membrane module for NETL test

Enlargement

1mm

600nm

Cross section

Enlarged image of active layer（x 50）（ x 50,000））

SEM image of dendrimer composite hollow fiber membrane

Fig.7 Dendrimer composite membrane module

06

RITE Today 2007

R&D Activities

Chemical Research Group

Development of an inorganic membrane for thecatalytic membrane at high temperature
Since zeolite and mesoporous silica possess
well-deﬁned micro/meso-pores with low thermal
expansion/mobility of the framework, considerable attention has been focused on the production of membranes that are capable of separatinggases with high selectivity. Based on the simulation results, we selected some candidate zeolite
structures for CO₂-N₂ or CO₂-H₂ separation andhave started synthesis of new zeolite membranes.
Synthetic conditions for zeolite seed crystals havebeen studied and, recently, we successfully
synthesized a new zeolite seed crystal which had
never previously been used for zeolite membrane.
On the other hand, since mesoporous silica
has uniform, large pores as well as a high surface
area, a variety of guest molecules can be introduced into the pores by reaction with surface OH
groups. As shown in Figure 8, a new type ofhydrogen separation membrane was prepared bytemplate synthesis of Pd nanoparticles in the
pores of mesoporous silica membrane. It was
found that dense Pd nanoparticles, of almost
equivalent size to the mesopores, were successfully prepared into the pores by impregnation of
Pd salt, and that the membrane showed H₂ selectivity from a mixture of H₂ and CO₂. We are now
planning: (1) improvement of the performance ofthe membrane, (2) evaluation of its durability, (3)a larger module production and (4) application of
the membrane reactor under changing reaction
conditions.

Plasma PM removal system for diesel vehicles
Recently, emission controls for diesel vehicles
have become extremely severe, even though nosatisfactory PM removal technologies have beendeveloped yet. Plasma PM removal technology
has potential as an innovative technology for theafter-treatment of exhaust gases from diesel
vehicles. This project is a joint study with
Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd., which is supported by
NEDO (Comprehensive Technological Development of Innovative, Next-Generation, LowPollution Vehicles, R&D of innovative aftertreatment systems). RITE is investigating themechanisms of plasma discharges and plasma
PM oxidation. It is also developing a PM removal
system as shown in Fig. 9. A PM removal systemwith a power supply and a small plasma reactor
can be loaded onto a diesel car. This reactor will
have a high PM removal ability and low pressure
loss.

12VDC
Power

Power
supplyHigh-voltage
outputPlasma reactor

Tail pipe

DieselengineFig.9 Plasma PM removal system

Schematic images of Pd nanoparticles within mesopores

Cross sectional view: Mesoporous
silica membrane prepared on
porous alumina substrate

TEM image: Black points is
Pd nano particles

Fig.8 Hydrogen separation membrane with Pd nano particles within mesopores

07

RITE Today 2007

R&D Activities

CO₂ Sequestration Research Group

CO₂ Sequestration Research GroupR&D of CO₂ Geological Storage Project
1. Overview of CO₂ Geological Storage Technology
The CO₂ geological storage technology is tostore carbon dioxide (CO₂) in geological formation
safely for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The
technologies of Enhances Oil Recovery (EOR),
Enhanced Coal Bed Methane recovery (ECBM),
injection in oil and gas ﬁelds and saline formations
are developed for the mitigation of the global
worming.
RITE is developing the aquifer storage technology which is possible for long-term stable isolation
with cap rock layer. CO₂ aquifer storage is thought
to be one of the most eﬀective and practical technology because the knowledge of undergroundnatural gas storage and the experience of EOR are
applicable.
Separation/Capture

Transport

20km far from the CO₂ injection well. It has been
kept to monitor the injected CO₂ for improving themodel of CO₂ behavior, until now.

Fig.2 CO₂ injection facilities at Nagaoka site

3.R&D subjects of the project.
The scientiﬁc possibility of aquifer storage in Japan
has been cleared by the current study. Around sametime, the technology of geological storage has been
progressed with recognition as mitigation technology
in the world. So, the technology veriﬁcation of CO₂
carbon storage (CCS) should be needed for its implementation. RITE is focusing the studies of total analysis and safty analysis to make the road map of CCS forthe large scale CO₂ emission sources.
a.Total analysis(a) Research on validity
Storage system will be classiﬁed in terms of emission source, capture methods, transporting methods,
reservoir types and injection methods. Storage
potentials, costs, consumed energy and mitigatingeﬀects will be analyzed for each classiﬁcation. A basic
scenario plan which will quantitatively explain thevalidity of aquifer storage in Japan will be made.
(b) Submission of road map for implementation of
CCS
Technological issues of CCS implementation in
Japan will be summarized, and a ﬁrst draft ofresearch and development road map which clears
milestones of solutions of subjects will be made.
(c) Engineering study for supposed sites
Assumed model areas will be chosen and issues of
implementation will be extracted by engineering

Injection

Injection
Large scale
Emission source

Onshoreaquifer
CO2２
ＣＯOffshoreaquifer

CO2
ＣＯ
２
CO2

Fig.1 CO₂ geological storage in aquifer

2. Outcome of the recent project
R&D project of CO₂ geological storage technology
was launched in 2000 with the support of Ministry
Economy Trade Industry. From 2000 to 2004, thepossibility of the aquifer storage in Japan was
conﬁrmed. Especially the injection experiment in
Nagaoka city of Niigata prefecture showed that 10,400
t-CO₂ was able to be stored in a year and half between
July 2004 and January 2005. The cross-well seismic
tomography, well loggings, measurements of pressure
and temperature of reservoir formation, and microseismicity monitoring were carried out for developing the simulator of CO₂ behavior. There is not any
CO₂ leakage from the reservoir, even when the
Nagaoka site was hit on October 23, 2004 by the huge
earthquake (M6.8) of which epicenter was about

08

RITE Today 2007

R&D Activities

CO₂ Sequestration Research Group(b) Laboratory experiment for basic research
In order to improve the CO₂ behavior model, thefollowing laboratory experiments will be carried out:
inﬂuence of CO₂ dissolved into water on mechanicalstability of cap rock, quantiﬁcation of mineral dissolution rates under CO₂ presence, mechanisms ofsuper critical CO₂ substitution for saline water inporous media, etc.
(c) Model integration of underground CO₂ behavior
Based on data and knowledge of the monitoring at
Iwanohara and the laboratory experiments, CO₂
behavior in aquifer for a short and long period will bescientiﬁcally summarized. The improved model will
be presented for safety conﬁrmation.

study including safety and environmental assessment
on emission sources, transportation methods, reservoir conditions and storage methods. Solutions forthe issues will be proposed.
(d) Storage potential evaluation in JapanThe storage potential of aquifer in Japan will be reestimated based on the existing data. Locations andtypes of emission sources will be considered. Issuesof the estimation method will be summarized and a
new storage model will be proposed.
(e) Survey for implementation and public outreach of
CCS
Investigation on political and technical trends of
CCS will be carried out including overseas and aframework for public outreach of CCS will prepared.
Investigation of implementation will be carried out
in terms of operating scheme, legal framework, regulations, overseas business potentials and public
outreach.
(f) Investigation on safety and risk
Safety and risk analysis will be carried out and aguideline of safety assessment and environmental
assessment will be presented.
b. Safety analysis(a) Monitoring of Iwanohara site
CO₂ injected at Iwanohara site in Ngaoka will bemonitored to improve the simulation model of CO₂
behavior in aquifer for conﬁrming the safety ofstorage.
Item

Now

4.Future of the project
It is scheduled as shown in Fig3 that total analysis
and safety analysis of CO₂ geological storage projectwill be summarized for the future implementation of
CCS in Japan in accordance with the R&D of CO₂
capture technology. A workshop entitled “International Workshop on CO₂ Geological Storage , Japan‘06” was held on February 20, 21, 2006 at the
Toranomon Pastoral Hotel Tokyo Japan. This workshop provided the research result of the Nagaoka
Project including overseas CCS trend informationand the next step of the project. See details in thepage 18 of this report.

2010

2015
Implementation of CCS
on worldwide scale

Capture cost
※4,200yen/t-CO2■ Capture of CO2

2020～
First IGCC
commercial plant

Implementation of CCS
driven by emmision
trade framework

Cost reduction of capture process
1,000yen/t-CO2(at 1Mt-CO2/yr)

Use in LNG-plants
Chemicalabsorption
MembranePhysicalabsorption,
cryogenic
separation■Geological storage

Study
on
Application tovarioussourcesof CO2

Cost reduction
・Use of waste heat・Reduction in energy
・New absorbent
R&D of membranewith high selectivity

Further cost reduction/ Expansion of application systems
Cost reduction/Scale up

Basic research of new processes / utilization study

Aplication for chemical plants
Implementationof CCS

Total cost of CCS※ 7,300 yen/t-CO2(New coal power plant)

Aquifer
EOR
Depleted Gas
fieldsEstablishment ofbasic
technology
Injection
experiment（10,000
t-CO2)

Field test andevaluation

Enlargement ofstorage amount

Demonstration of
capture and storage

Understanding and model buildingof about geological CO2 behaviors
Reduction in system cost of geological storage

Development of techniques forenvironment /safety assessment

Enlargement of application area
/ Further cost reduction

Geologic potential survey/ identification of new reservoirs

Coal seam■ The other new
technologies

Establishmentof basic
technology

Field Test and evaluationof a total system

Survey on new technology for CO2 capture and sequestration※Capture: New PC(830MW),Amount of CCS:1Mt-CO2/yr, compression:7MPa, Steam extracts from steam cycle of power plant※Geological storage :Cost of CO2 capture & pipeline transport 20km & injection (compression:10Mpa 0.1Mt-CO2/yr/well)09

Fig.3 Road map of CCS in Japan
RITE Today 2007

R&D Activities

CO₂ Sequestration Research GroupR&D of CO₂ Ocean Sequestration Project
2. Purpose of R&D
In order to implement the anthropogenic CO₂
sequestration into the ocean as a practical usedtechnology, it is important a prior understandingof the environmental impacts, especially onto thebiosphere, to prevent possible damages caused by
the application of this new technology. Therefore
CO₂ sequestration technology can be clearly
understand with a wide social receptivenessamong the international frameworks, such as
Framework Convention on Climate Change(FCCC) and Convention on the Prevention and of
Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and other
Matter (London Convention, LC). This project isbeing carried out with the purpose of clarifying
these subjects towards the utilization of CO₂
ocean sequestration. In addition, during the phase
1, carried out from FY1997 to FY2001, macroscopic CO₂ action grasp in the adjacent seas ofJapan, including predictions and investigations ofenvironmental eﬀects, mainly on the biota,
produced by the nozzle back discharge of CO₂,
were conducted. Followings are the aims of thepresent projects as the phase 2 which is carried out
from FY2002 to FY2006.

1.Overview of CO₂ Ocean sequestration technology
Increasing of atmospheric CO₂ is one of thefactors of global warming. This is the result of
imbalance between the dissolution of atmospheric
CO₂ in the ocean and the emission of anthropogenic CO₂, mainly due to the combustion of a
fossil fuel. This imbalance is also due to the longtime scale requires for the absorption of atmospheric CO₂ in the ocean in contrast with therapid increase of emissions. However, there is a
suﬃcient potentiality to dissolve anthropogenic
CO₂ in the middle and deep layers of the ocean.
Therefore, a bypass technology of direct injectionof atmospheric CO₂, captured from high emissions, into the deep ocean was proposed. The main
objection for the utilization of this technology is
the resulting biological impacts when the initialconcentration of injected CO₂ is high. From theviewpoint of suppressing environmental impact tothe minimum extent, RITE is developing adilution & injection technology to the middle anddeep ocean layer using “Moving Ship” approach,as shown in Fig. 1.
CO2 capture andLiquefaction atplant on land

Amount of CO2 Capture：10 million ton-CO2/ year
1 million kW class coal fired power plant= 2.5
plants (Operation rate = 70%, capture rate = 85%,emission= 4million ton -CO2/year/plant）

CO2Carrier
km
×100
m
k
0
0
1

CO2Disperser
1500～
2500m
Injection of LiquidCO2
Injection rate = 150kg/sec,
Ship speed = 3m/sec, Plume
Wide=3ma. Technology assessment of CO₂ ocean
sequestration(a) Technical evaluation of CO₂ sequestration capacity(b) Economic evaluation of the CO₂ sequestration(c) Investigation on the legal issue related tointernational lawsb. Development of assessment technology forCO₂ environmental impact(a) Investigation of marine environment(b) Understanding of deep-sea ecosystem(c) Investigation of biological impact(d) Development of Biological impact model

Thickness=1000mPipe forCO2dispersion

Fig.1 Image of operation for ocean sequestration by Moving shipc. Development of CO₂ dilution technology(a) Development of CO₂ injection technology(b) Improvement of the simulation model of
CO₂ behavior
10

RITE Today 2007

R&D Activities

CO₂ Sequestration Research Group

3. Present state of the project
The phase 2 of this project started from the
FY2002, and now it is the 5th year. A interim
assessment of this project was carried out by thesubcommittee of METI in the FY2004. As theresult, the following comments and advices havebeen reported. "Ocean sequestration technology
is an eﬀective measure for the mitigation of global
warming. However, the environmental impact
assessment is an important task. Public relation,
especially for oversea, international collaboration, and so on should be carried out actively." So,
RITE is enhancing public outreach (PO) and thecorporation with research institute of overseas,
though RITE has already succeed to organize theinternational work shop on “Advances in Biological Research for CO₂ Ocean Sequestration“ in2003. From FY2004, the collaboration of carbon
dioxide impact on marine ecosystem has been
carried out with the Norwegian Institute for
Water Research (NIVA) in which an experiment
was carried out in a fjord of Norway in 2005 andits results will be reported in 2007. In order topromote PO actions, the special symposium ofJapan Ocean Society “CO₂ ocean sequestration:
what is the appropriate assessment for the environmental impact” was carried out in 2006.
Moreover, in order to make clear the image ofocean sequestration, the engineering study of its
implementation under the case which is theocean sequestration of about 50 million tons of
CO₂ annually into the ocean near Japan, wascarried out and its biological impact is evaluated.

ect. For the ﬁnal purpose, it is necessary to
promote the understanding ocean sequestrationin academia and obtain the agreement to theimplementation of ocean sequestration in thearena of LC and other international ocean regulation, because the ocean is a human common
property and the implementation of CO₂ ocean
sequestration needs to build up an international
consensus.

4. Future of the Project
Development of a CO₂ dilution technology andenvironmental-impact-assessment technology is
progressing using laboratory experiments, ﬁeld
observations and numerical simulations. For aneﬀective utilization of the ocean sequestration
technology, it is necessary to prove the developed
technology using ﬁeld experiments in the ocean.
Finally, it is necessary to trace the CO₂ behavior
in several 100 km scale, and to investigate thebiological impact. Therefore, ﬁeld experiments
covering a wide range of scale from small-scale toa real scale is desired in the next step of this proj-

11

RITE Today 2007

R&D Activities

Plant Research Group

Plant Research Group
Carbon-sequestration with the use of Plants and Trees
production of alternative energy. As follows, we report
the works of three projects.

Ambient partial pressure of CO₂ (370 ppm), which
is one of the main factors causing the global warming,is expected to reach its value of 1,000 ppm on A.D.
2100. IPCC set its value to 550 ppm, about half 1,000
ppm, which shows the necessity of carbonsequestration management at the world-wide level.
Now, techniques for carbon-sequestration are developed from the two aspects: CO₂-emission suppression
and CO₂-ﬁxation enhancement. CO₂-emission
suppression includes the usage of alternative energy tofossil resource energy: sun, atomic, terrestrial heat etc.
In addition, the utilization of biomass energy(bioenergy) is developed. As for CO₂-ﬁxation
enhancement, geological and ocean sequestrations
techniques are developed, which are non-biologicalapproaches. Contrary to these techniques, biologicalsequestration technique, aﬀorestation and the expansion of its area are developed.
We, in Plant Research Group, develop the techniques for both CO₂-ﬁxation enhancement (carbon
stock formation) and CO₂-emission suppression(alternative energy formation), that is, large scale aﬀorestation and bioenergy usage (Figure 1). In large scaleaﬀorestation, we improve trait of plants and trees,
where growth and abiotic tolerance are stimulated,using molecular biological techniques with the usefulgenes (aﬀorestation project and frontier soil project).
These projects contribute to the enhancement ofCO₂-sequestration through the formation of carbon
stock. Furthermore, we develop the improvement ofplants to have the ability to produce factorial materials
in chloroplasts (factorial plants project). This projectcontributes to CO₂-emission suppression through theAﬀorestation Project
The purpose of this project is to develop the fundamental technologies to allow for aﬀorestation in
unsuitable area for vegetation, such as semi-arid area,
to reduce atmospheric CO₂. We carry out the projectin collaboration with paper companies and universities. (This project is supported by METI from FY2003
to FY2007.)In this project, we try to develop two main techniques; (1) A technique to enhance the ability ofphotosynthetic CO₂ ﬁxation or, to confer the abiotic
stress tolerance on woody plants, such as Eucalyptus
and Populus by genetic modiﬁcation, (2) A technique to isolate the elite trees from Eucalyptus, those
have superior ability of growth and stress tolerance,and produce the cloned cell lines of the elite trees.
Under combined stress with strong light anddrought in semi-arid area, plants close their stomata to
avoid the loss of water by transpiration. However, theclose of stomata leads to decrease CO₂ inﬂux to chloroplasts, and decline in the rate of photosynthesis. As theresult, absorbed photon energy, which is usuallyconsumed by photosynthesis, becomes excess, and theexcess photon energy stimulates the production ofreactive oxygen species (ROS) by reduction of dioxygen in chloroplasts. Furthermore, ROS induces oxidative damage, i.e. “sunburn”, to cellular components ofplants.
RITE develops the fundamental technology forsuppression of ROS production and rapid eliminationof produced ROS in chloroplast by genetic modiﬁcation with Arabidopsis and tobacco as model plants. By
overexpression of ferredoxin gene in chloroplasts of
tobacco plants, RITE has succeeded to stimulate activity of cyclic electron ﬂow around photosystem I and toenhance the ability of heat dissipation process, inwhich excess photon energy is consumed as heat, intransplastomic plants (Figure 2).
In future, the application of our techniques willproduce drought tolerant transgenic woody plants,
and they will contribute to the aﬀorestation in semiarid area.

Development of Techniques for Enhancement ofFormation of Carbon-stock and Alternative Energy
SUN・Factorial PlantsPJ

CO2

Bioenergy
Afforestation

Photosynthesis(Growth)nursery・Afforestation PJ
・Frontier PJ

CO2(Alternative energy)

Mature tree
(Carbon stock)

EnergyFossil energy

CO2

Petroleum, Coal

Figure 1
12

RITE Today 2007

R&D Activities

Plant Research Group

Fundamental Technology for Controlling theMaterial Production Process of Plant Chloroplasts(Factorial Plants Project)
The development of bioprocess represents animportant issue in the creation of a fossil resourceindependent recycling-oriented society. To address
this issue, it is necessary to develop fundamental technology for the production of industrial materials orother useful substances in plants. Gene-recombination
technology succeeded in conferring resistance toherbicide or insect on transgenic plants. The purposeof this project is to improve the basic technology to
produce the industrial material by functions of
substance production in plants.
Photosynthetic organella, chloroplast converts CO₂
to various substances such as sugars, lipids and aminoacids etc. by using light energy. We are engaged in theanalysis and control of material production processes
in chloroplast by using already established chloroplasttransformation technology (Figure 4). The integrationof transgene into chloroplast genome oﬀers an advantage that transgene ﬂow via pollen is absent due tomaternal inheritance of the chloroplast genome.
Since plants have their own metabolic control
systems, it is necessary to identify the substanceproduction processes and to regulate key metabolic
pathway. We demonstrated the enhanced productivity
of isoprenoid that is of industrial importance as additives, organic materials, vitamins and ingredients inmedicine by engineering chloroplast metabolic pathway. Based on the results of the analysis of the transgenic plants, we will identify a rate-controlling step inchloroplast metabolism. For the purpose of improving
the chloroplast transformation technology, we willdevelop an artiﬁcial system that regulates the level andtissue of transgene expression.

Figure 2

Frontier Soil Project
In semi-dry areas, soils are poor in nutrients andwater. In cooperation with Saitama University, Kohchi
University, the General Environmental Technos Co.
Ltd., and Forest Products Commission in Australia, wetackle the development of a soil-improving technology
using microbes and plants (Figure 3). We try to
improve soils with nutrients provided from mycorrhizal fungi and nitrogen-ﬁxing microbes including
cyanobacteria and root-nodule bacteria symbiotically
alive in Acacia roots. Frontier project is developing acyanobacteria having high nitrogen-ﬁxation capacity
by a genetically engineering technique, and also
searching for a mycorrhizal fungi having high absorption capacity of phosphate ions. Moringa oleifera,
which survives in semi-dry areas, has water storage
roots. We also evaluate the water storage capacity inthe soils. Based on searching for useful microbes anduseful plants and improving those physiological functions by a genetically engineering technique, our goalis applying this technology to aﬀorestation in semi-dry
areas.
Semi-dry area
DesertFrontier Soil
Searching for useful microbes/plants

AnalysisAnalysis ofof substancesubstance production
production
process
process inin chloroplast
chloroplast

Afforestation

Improving the physiological functions

Nucleus
Chloroloplast DNA

Eucalyptus・Poplar

・Moringa

・Acacia
・Cyanobacteria
・Root-nodule bacteria
・Mycorrhizal fungi

Water

Chloroplast

Regulation of rate-controlling step in chloroplast
metabolism by using chloroplast transformation
technology

Nutrients

Water storage roots

Improvement
Improvement ofof transgene
transgene expression
expression
systemsystem inin chloroplast
chloroplast·· Regulation
Regulation ofof expression
expression level
level·· Regulation
Regulation ofof expression
expression tissue
tissueRoot-nodule bacteria
・Mycorrhizal fungi●Infertile soil

Frontier Soil

●Low water availability

Production of Industrial materials
in transgenic plants

Process of forming Frontier Soil

Figure 4

Figure 3
13

RITE Today 2007

R&D Activities

Microbiology Research Group

Microbiology Research Group
Development of bioreﬁnery technology-Utilizing microbiological functions1. Introduction
Two years after Kyoto treaty had come into
force, there is a need for further act against theclimate change. The crude oil price recorded thehighest last summer resulting in the sharp
increase in the prices of petroleum-based fuels
and chemicals, and this phenomenon had signiﬁcant eﬀect on our society. Despite the lowered
crude oil price (<$60) this year, there is no futurein the industry which consumes large amount of
resources, hence there is a growing expectation on
corporations as well as on society to switch tousing renewable resources. The Prime Minister
Abe had instructed to increase the bioethanol
usage last November and there is a plan to supply
10% of nation’s petrol consumption with bioethanol. As bioethanol is renewable and carbon
neutral, there is no theoretical increase in CO₂
resulting from any bioethanol usage. The assignment for all the nations including developing
countries is to develop an economic way to incorporate biomass cultivation, biofuels andbiochemicals into the sustainable society.

times that proposed by existing plan, by 2017.
This amount is 15% of the predicted gasoline
consumption in 2017 and includes butanol andhydrogen in addition to ethanol. The EU is also
aiming to introduce biofuels in their action planand intends to supply 5.75% of transportation fuelwith biofuels (mainly biodiesel fuel, BDF) by theend of 2010. In the case of bioreﬁnery, there areconstructive research and developments including use of cellulosic biomass. However, in order toachieve the practical application, it is necessary toestablish bioprocess, by which the biomass iseﬃciently converted, hence each nation is competing in the technological development.
3. Technological development of bioreﬁnery (inRITE)
As a consignment of NEDO, “Bioreﬁnery
research and development” project started inJapan last year. In RITE Microbiology ResearchGroup, research has been carried out with“growth-arrested bioprocess”, which is a novel andhighly eﬃcient technology, as a core technology.
We are aiming to produce C3-C6 organic acids
and amino acids from soft-biomass such as cornstover and used paper (http://www.nedo.go.jp/).
Unlike the conventional bioprocesses of which
production processes are dependent on the
microbial growth, “growth-arrested bioprocess”
utilizes artiﬁcially growth arrested microorganisms as catalyst to produce chemicals. By thismethod, the problem of low productivity (STY:Space Time Yield) associated with conventional
processes has been solved and, by the continuous
reaction, the productivity similar to the chemical
process was made possible. With the post-genome
technology, which analyzes all the gene, protein
expression and function in the cell using the
genome information, corynebacteria withimproved production ability have been devel-

2. Biomass utilizing technology –world trend
In the USA, the government has been actively
supporting the development of technology basedon biomass resource usage. Unlike in the oil crisis
time, there is a new concept of “bioreﬁnery” inaddition to the search for the alternative to fossil
fuel and the companies are actively involved in
the technological development. This is due to the
expectation on the newly formed market withnovel technological foundation. Moreover, there
is a national strategy to become independent of
the foreign supply of transportation fuel byproducing bioethanol. In the state of the union
speech this year, the president Bush announced
his plan to supply 35×103 million gallon ofrenewable and alternative fuels, which is ﬁve

14

RITE Today 2007

R&D Activities

Microbiology Research Group

Biorefinery Technology
Biomass saccharification technology
Used paper

Cell

Cornstover

Coryneform

High-speed saccharification by cellulosome

Biomass（High-speed saccharification）

Sugar

Highly efficient sugar conversion technology
Ceramic filter

Air filter

Organic acid

pH control

GlucoseC3～C6 Molecules

Organic
acid

Amino acids

Sugar(Growth-arrested process)

Biochemicals

oped. The establishment of the “growth-arrested
bioprocess” is predicted to be a key to the application of “bioreﬁnery” in Japan.

5. Future development
There is a heated competition among thenations to achieve the early practical applicationof bioreﬁnery using the post-genome technology.
Therefore we will devote ourselves to achieving
practical application of our novel “growtharrested bioprocess”. Moreover, to accomplish thepractical application of organic acid production,
including succinate, we have started developing
the continuous production system with theindustry. We are also carrying out the primary
R&D for biomass-derived hydrogen production
in collaboration with electronics companies. In
order to implement our bioprocess to produce
wider variety of chemicals and energy, we areplanning to collaborate with industries in R&D in
the future.

4. Cooperation with industries
In the Microbiology Research Group, we havebeen conducting a collaborative R&D with industries using “growth-arrested bioprocess” as a coretechnology. As discussed above, bioethanol
produced from biomass has been in the center ofattention as a basis of energy security and transportation fuel which is eﬀective in tackling the
global warming. Owing to this fact, there is aheated research competition mainly in the U.S.A.
to reduce the cost of production process. In ourgroup, we have established the technology to
produce alcoholic fuels from cellulose containedin soft-biomass not suitable for human consumption, such as cornstover and rice straw, and have
moved forward to achieving the practical application. In our process, it is possible to signiﬁcantly
reduce the eﬀect of fermentation inhibitors and
we are carrying out R&D along with the car
manufacturing company (Honda) for the practical application.

15

RITE Today 2007

TOPICS

Innovative membrane technologies in GCEP

Chemical Research Group
Global Climate & Energy Project
STANFORD UNIVERSITYRITE has received an award for developing “Sub-Nano Structure Controlled Materials:
Development of Innovative Gas Separation Membranes” from the GCEP (Global Climate
and Energy Project) of Stanford University, USA. In this project, synergism of research
into both carbon and inorganic materials will lead to innovative materials for gas separation membranes.
Carbon membrane
In the organic materials approach, sub-nanostructure controlled carbon membranes
are now under research. Conventional carbon membranes use molecular sieving ofgases with diﬀerent molecular diameters to get good gas selectivity.
RITE’s novel carbon membrane is a thin layer of microporous carbon deposited on a
porous alumina tube. Figure 1 shows the basic outline of RITE’s novel carbon membrane.
In the ﬁgure, micropores
N2, H2: CO2• Modification of pore surface
obtain a molecular gatefunction by modiﬁcationof pore surfaces or inserPore size: 0.5 - 1 nm
Ideal CO2 molecular gate
Modified walltion of dendrimers. The
CO₂ molecules occupying• Insertion of molecule having CO2 molecular gate function:
CO2
N2, H2the pores work to block
the passage of othergases.
Consequently,
Molecule insertion
Pore size: 1-2 nm
CO2 molecular gate
excellent CO₂ selectivity is
obtained with the carbon
Fig.1 Modiﬁcation of pore property for high CO₂ aﬃnity in carbon
membrane.
membrane
Inorganic membrane (zeolite membrane)
We are now investigating an optimum zeolite structure and preparation of a grainboundary/pinhole free zeolite membrane by molecular simulation. Based on the simulation results, we have selected some new candidate zeolite structures for CO₂-N₂ or
CO₂-H₂ separation and have started synthesis of a new zeolite membrane. Synthetic
conditions for zeolite seed crystals have
Zeolite-substrate
been studied and, recently, we havecomposite layer
successfully synthesized a new zeolite
Porous substrate
seed crystal which has never previously
been used for a zeolite membrane. In
addition, as shown in Figure 2, a new
preparation method for zeolite membrane for growing zeolite crystals inside
the pores of porous alumina substrate
Substrate pore filling with zeolite crystal
has been proposed.
Fig.2 New preparation method for zeolite membrane

16

RITE Today 2007

TOPICS

Collaborative R&D in Bioethanol production

Microbiology Research GroupAs a part of our project to produce valuable substances from biomass in the Microbiology Research Group, we are carrying out R&D to produce bioethanol with industries. In
the conventional bioethanol production, food part of sugarcane and corn are used. However, in our new process, ethanol is produced from non-food parts such as leaves andstems. The non-food part is called lignocellulose and those are hydrolyzed to glucose
before converted into ethanol. In the pre-treatment process to hydrolyze lignocellulose
to glucose, fermentation inhibitors are also produced and the activities of microorganisms, such as yeast used in theconventional application, are
Next-generation bioethanol production
inhibited. On the contrary,
Conventional Process
fermentation inhibitors were
Ethanol fermentation
Sugar/Starchfound not to have signiﬁcanteﬀect on the corynebacteria
glucoseCorn / Sugar cane
Bio-ethanol
oligosaccharide
used in our group as these are
Future Process
Bioused in growth arrested state. In
Bio-fuelSugar
our group, we are planning to
Saccharification
LignoLignobuild a pilot plant with a carcellulose
manufacturing company(Honda)
to examine our novel process.
H

OH

CH2OH

H
OH
H

H

O H
H

OH

OH

CH2OH
CH2OH
OH
H
H
O
O
H
O
H
O
H
OH H
OH H
H
OH H
O
H
H
O
H
H OH
CH2OH
H OH

出典

Ｃｏｒｎ写真：フリー百科事典

Commentary published in Nature Biotechnology
Microbiology Research GroupIn the Microbiology Research Group, weare carrying out R&D to produce valuable
substances from biomass (bioreﬁnery).
Bioreﬁnery, which converts renewablebiomass to fuel and chemicals, has been
attracting attention as a fossil fuelindependent alternative to petroleumbased processes. Recently, our commentaryfrom the global point of view on the way
towards realization of bioreﬁnery and the
problems foreseen to encounter during theprocess to shift from fossil fuels was published in Nature Biotechnology (2006,Vol.24,
No7, 761-764).

17

Implementing biofuels on a global
scale
Alain A Vertès
Masayuki Inui
& Hideaki Yukawa
Is the introduction ofrenewable biofuelsa simple problem oftechnology
development anddiffusion or does it
require an industrial
revolution?

RITE Today 2007

TOPICS
International Workshop on CO₂ Geological Storage, Japan ‘06
CO₂ Sequestration Research GroupA workshop entitled “International Workshop on
CO₂ Geological Storage , Japan ‘06” was held on
February 20, 21, 2006 at the Toranomon Pastoral
Hotel Tokyo Japan.
This workshop was hosted by RITE as a part of
CO₂ Geological Storage Research Project for the
conﬁdence building in Japan. Approximately 300
attendants for 2 days including 20 from overseas
and also mainly from private sectors and researchorganizations listened to the presentations eagerly.
Also NGO ,NPO persons joined the workshop. This workshop provided the research result of
the Nagaoka Project including overseas CCS trend information and useful discussion about
CCS.

2007 RITE International Symposium-Technologies for mitigating global warming and the role of Japan-

Planning, Survey and Public Relations GroupThe symposium entitled “2007 RITE International Symposium – Technologies for mitigating
global warming and the role of Japan –“ was held on 18
January 2007, at the Shinagawa Intercity Hall.
This symposium was organized by RITE (ResearchInstitute of Innovative Technology for the Earth), coorganized by NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization), and supported by
METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), SCEJ(The Society of Chemical Engineers,Japan), JSER (Japan
Society of Energy and Resources), JIE (The Japan Institute of Energy), and JSBBA (Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry).
As the keynote speaker, Dr. Levine of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory outlined theenergy and climate change issues. As the representatives of Japanese industrial sector, Mr.
Furuno of Toyota Motor Corporation and Mr. Ono of Nippon Steel Corporation presented theirchallenges for the GHG reduction. In the afternoon session, Dr. Metting of Paciﬁc Northwest
National Laboratory presented an overview on the
biofuel technologies in the US and Dr. Yukawa of RITE
highlighted the R&D of RITE in this ﬁeld. Regarding CO₂
geological storage, Mr. Kaarstad of Statoil spoke about
the current activities and future potential and Dr. Ohsumi
of RITE presented Japanese achievement. The symposium
closed with the speech by Dr. Kaya of RITE and heprovided his insight into the Japan's strategy for mitigating climate change.
18

RITE Today 2007

2006 Paper, Presentation and Publication

Systems Analysis Group

Systems Analysis Group■2006 Paper
Title
1 Analysis of Technological Portfolios for CO₂ Stabilizations and Effects ofTechnological Changes

Researchers
F. Sano, K. Akimoto
T. Homma, T. Tomoda

JournalThe Energy Journal

2 Development of a multi-regional and multi-sectoral energy-economic model andassessment of the global warming mitigation policy

T. Homma, S. Mori
K. Akimoto, T. Tomoda

The Energy Journal (International associationfor energy economics)

3 Integrated Assessment of global Warming Issues and an Overview of Project
PHOENIX - A Comprehensive Approach

IEEJ Transactions of Electrical & Electronic
Engineering

4 Economic Evaluation of the Geological Storage of CO₂ Considering the Scale ofEconomyS. Mori, K. Akimoto, T. Homma
F. Sano, J. Oda
A. Hayashi, K. Dowaki, T. Tomoda
K. Akimoto, M. Takagi
T. Tomoda

5 Public Perceptions on the Acceptance of Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxideand Information Influencing the Acceptance

K. Tokushige, K. Akimoto
T. Tomoda

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas
Control

6 Evaluation of Energy Saving and CO₂ Emission Reduction Technologies
in Energy Supply and End-use Sectors Using a Global Energy Model

J. Oda, K. Akimoto
F. Sano, T. Homma
T. Tomoda
J. Oda, K. Akimoto
F. Sano, T. Tomoda

IEEJ Transactions of Electrical & Electronic
Engineering

Researchers
S. Mori, K. Akimoto, F. Sano
A. Hayashi, T. Homma
J. Oda, T. Tomoda
K. Tokushige, T. Ohsumi

Forum
22th Conference on Energy System,
Economy and Environment
26-27, January, 2006

7 Diffusion of Energy Efficient Technologies and CO₂ Emission Reductions
in Iron and Steel Sector

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas
Control

Energy Economics■2006 Oral Presentaion
Title
1 An Integrated Assessment of Global Warming-Project Phoenix

2 Current Status of Legal Aspects on CO₂ Gelogical Storage

3 Evaluation of technological options for mitigating climate change in paper & pulp
industrial sector with a world energy system model

22th Conference on Energy System,
Economy and Environment
26-27, January, 2006

F. Sano, K. Akimoto
J. Oda, T. Homma
T. Tomoda
4 Evaluation of Global Impact on Agriculture under Several GHG Emission Scenarios K. Akimoto, F. Sano
S. Mori, T.Tomoda

22th Conference on Energy System,
Economy and Environment
26, January, 2006

5 Cost Analysis of CO₂ Geological Storage in JapanK. Akimoto, T. Ohsumi

22th Conference of Energy System,
Economy and Environment
26-27, January, 2006

6 Effects of Transfer and Diffusion of Energy Efficient Technologies in Industrial
Sectors on CO₂ Emission Reduction

K. Akimoto

The Workshop on Globalization, Technology
Transfer, and Energy-Efficiency of Energy
Intensive Industries in Asia (START, UNU,
IHDP) 12-13, January, 2006

22th Conference on Energy System,
Economy and Environment
26-27, January, 2006

7 Evaluations of Global Warming Mitigation Policy Using a Multi-sectoral and Multi- T. Homma, S. Moriregional Energy-economic Model
K. Akimoto, T.Tomoda

22th Conference on Energy System,
Economy and Environment
26-27, January, 2006

8 Evaluations of Technological Options for Mitigating Climate Change
in Iron & Steel Sector with a World Energy System Model

22th Conference on Energy System,
Economy and Environment
26, January, 2006

J. Oda, K. Akimoto
F. Sano, T. Homma
T. Tomoda
T. Tomoda

9 Long-term Traget of GWM and Integrated Assessment

10 Evaluation of Global Warming Impact on Human HealthA. Hayashi, K. Akimoto, F. Sano
S. Mori and T. Tomoda

11 Economic Evaluation for CO₂ Geological Storage Considering the Scale ofEconomy3rd International Workshop on Integrated
Climate Models： An interdisciplinary
assessment of climate impacts and policies
12-13, January, 2006
25th Meeting on Energy and Resources
9, June, 2006

K. Akimoto, M. Takagi
Y. Hirota, T. Ohsumi
Y. Mizuno, T. Tomoda
12 Public perceptions on the acceptance of CO₂ geological storage and the valuable K. Tokushige, K. Akimoto
information for the acceptanceT. Tomoda

8th International Conference on Greenhouse
Gas Control Technologies
20, June, 2006

13 Contribution to Climate Change by Region and Brazil Proposal (3)A. Kurosawa, T. Tomoda

Annual Meeting on Environmnet andEconomy Policy Society (2006)
4-7, July, 2006

14 Evaluation of Global Warming Mitigation Technology in Consideration of
ITAcceleration

T. Homma, S. Mori, K. Akimoto
T. Tomoda

25th Meeting on Energy and Resources
9-10, June, 2006

15 Evaluation of Global Warming Mitigation Policies with a Dynamic World Energyeconomic Model Considering Changes in Industrial Structures by IT Penetration

T. Homma, S. Mori
K. Akimoto, T. Tomoda

9th Annual Conference on Global Economic
Analysis (GTAP 2006 conference)
15-17, June, 200619

8th International Conference on Greenhouse
Gas Control Technologies
19-22, June, 2006

RITE Today 2007

2006 Paper, Presentation and Publication

Systems Analysis Group

Title
16 Evaluation of global warming mitigation policies considering changes in industrial
structures and IT penetration
17 An impact analysis on greenhouse gases including an effect of non-CO₂
emissions.
18 International Cooperation on Technology-oriented Measures for Global Warmingand Effect of CO₂ Emission Reduction

Researchers
T. Homma, S. Mori
K. Akimoto, Y. Murota
T. Tomoda
K. Dowaki, K. Akimoto
F. Sano, T. Tomoda
S. Mori
K. Akimoto

19 Transition to LCS: effects of technology diffusions in both energy supply side and K. Akimoto
demand side

Forum
Intermediate Input-Output Meetings 2006 on
Sustainability, Trade & Productivity (IIOA
2006 conference) 26-28, July, 2006
Operation Research Society
6, September, 2006
Symposium on Innovative Environment
Technology （RITE） 5, October, 2006
（Osaka）18, October, 2006（Tokyo）
The Annual Energy Modelling Conference of
the UKERC
6, December, 2006

20 Integrated Assessment PHOENIX - Land-use Modeling and Global Warming
Impacts on Agriculture -K. Akimoto, S. Mori
T. Tomoda

Energy Modeling Forum (EMF) 22: Climate
Policy Scenarios for Stabilization and In
Transition, 14, December, 2006

21 Which is more effective, the setting-up of a series of short-term targets or along-term target of emission reductions?

K. Akimoto

Japan/US Workshop on Technology
Development and Policy
17, October, 2006

22 Evaluations of Technological Options for Mitigating Climate Change
in Steel and Cement Sectors with a World Energy Systems Model

J. Oda, K. Akimoto
F. Sano, T. Homma
T. Tomoda

25th Meeting on Energy and Resources
9, June, 2006

Title
1 Economic Developments of China and India and their Impacts on Global Energy
and CO₂ Emission

Researchers
S. Mori, T. Homma and Y. Murota

Magazine, Newspaper, etc.
Weekly Economist

2 CO₂ Storage for Global Warming Mitigation (Chapter 1)

K. Akimoto

Illustrative Introduction to CO₂ Storage（）■2006 Non-Journal Publication

20

RITE Today 2007

2006 Paper, Presentation and Publication

Chemical Research Group

Chemical Research Group■2006 Original Paper
Title
1 CO₂ separation by membrane/absorption hybrid method

Researchers
K. Okabe, M. Nakamura , H. Mano
M. Teramoto, K. Yamada

JournalStudies in Surface Science and Catalysis,
159 409-412 (2006)

2 Uneven dielectric barrier discharge reactors for diesel particulate matter removal

S. Yao, C. Fushimi, K. Madokoro
K. Yamada

Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing,(26) 481-493 (2006)

3 A Novel High-Voltage Power Generator for Diesel Exhaust Gas Treatment

M. Okumoto, S. Yao, K. Madokoro
E. Suzuki, T. Yashima

Recent Advances in Multidisciplinary Applied
Physics, 291-295(2006) Elsevier

4 Diagnostics of a Pulsed Plasma Discharge

S. Yao, M. Okumoto , T. Yashima
E. Suzuki

Recent Advances in Multidisciplinary Applied
Physics, 313-317(2006) Elsevier

5 Development of PAMAM Dendrimer Composite Membrane for CO₂ Separation

S. Duan, T. Kouketsu, S. Kazama
K. YamadaJ. Membrane Sci, 283 2-6 (2006)

Title
1 Development of PAMAM Dendrimer Composite Membrane for CO₂ Separation

Researchers
T. Kai, S. Duan, T. Kouketsu
S. Matsui, S. Kazama, K. Yamada

Forum
North American Membrane Society (NAMS)
17th Annual Meeting, Chicago
17 May 2006

2 Novel Absorbents for CO₂ Capture from gas stream

K. Goto9th International CO₂ Capture Network,
Copenhagen
16 June 2006

3 Separation and recovery of CO₂ by membrane/absorption hybrid method

H. Mano, K. Okabe, M. Nakamura
M. Teramoto, K. Yamada

GHGT-8, Trondheim
20 June 2006

4 Novel Absorbents for CO₂ Capture from gas stream

S. Shimizu, M. Onoda, K. Goto
K. Yamada, T. Mimura

GHGT-8, Trondheim
20 June 2006

5 Molecular gate functionalized dendrimer membrane for CO₂ capture

S. Kazama, T. kai, T. Kouketsu
S. Duan, F.A. Chowdhury
K. Yamada

GHGT-8, Trondheim
21 June 2006

6 Design and Evaluation of a New CO₂ Fixation Process Using Alkaline-earth Metal
WastesS. Kodama, K. Yogo, K. Yamada
T.Nishimoto

GHGT-8, Trondheim
21 June 2006

7 Preparation and CO₂ separation properties of amine modified mesoporous silica
membraneY. Sakamoto, K. Yogo, K. Yamada
K. NagataSymposium on Zeolites and Microporous
Crystals, Yonago
1 August 2006

8 Development of PAMAM Dendrimer Composite Membrane for CO₂ Separation

3rd Conference of Aseanian Membrane
Society, Beijing
25 August 2006

9 Regeneration of CO₂ absorbent solution by accelerated desorption method

S. Duan, T. Kouketsu, T. Kai
S. Matsui, S. Kazama, Y. Fujioka
K. YamadaK. Okabe, H. Mano, K. Yamada

10 Evaluation of an uneven dielectric barrier discharge reactor for particulate matter
removal from a diesel engine

C. Fushimi, K. Madokoro, S. Yao
K. Yamada11th Asian Pacific Confederation of Chemical
Engineering(APCChE),
Kuala Lumpur
August 2006

11 Development of Innovative Gas Separation Membranes through Sub-Nanoscale
Materials Control

Y. Fujioka

GCEP Research Symposium, Pittsburgh
20 September 2006

■2006 Oral Presentation

12 Development of Innovative Gas Separation Membranes through Sub-Nanoscale
Materials Control

S. Kazama, T. Kai, N. Yamamoto
K. Uoe, K. Yogo, Y. Fujioka
K. Yamada
13 Experimental Investigation of a Molecular Gate Membrane for Separation of Carbon S. Kazama, T. Kai, T. Kouketsu
Dioxide from Flue Gas
S. Matsui, K. Yamada
J.S. Hoffman, H.W. Pennline
S. Yao, C. Fushimi, K. Madokoro
14 Characterization of a non-thermal plasma system at atmospheric pressure
Y. Fujioka

21

17th International Congress of Chemical andProcess Engineering, Prague
29 August 2006

GCEP Research Symposium, Pittsburgh
20 September 2006 (Poster)Pittsburgh Coal Conference
27 September 2006
48th Annual Meeting of the Division of
Plasma Physics, Philadelphia
1 November 2006

RITE Today 2007

2006 Paper, Presentation and Publication

CO₂ Sequestration Research Group

CO₂ Sequestration Research Group■2006 Original Paper ［CO₂ Geological Storage Project]
Title
1 Seismic monitering and modelling of supercritical CO₂ injection into a watersaturated sandstone:interpretation of P-wave velocity data

Researchers
Ji-Quan Shi, Ziqiu Xue
Sevjet Durucan

JournalInternational Journal of Greenhouse Gas
Control, September 2006, submitted

2 Economic Evaluation for the Geological Storage of CO₂ Considering the Scale ofEconomyKeigo Akimoto, Masato Takagi
Toshimasa Tomoda

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas
Control, July 2006(submitted), in press

3 Public Perceptions on the Acceptance of Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxideand Information Influencing the Acceptance

Kohko Tokushige, Keigo Akimoto
Toshimasa Tomoda

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas
Control, submitted

4 Modeling and analysis of the pressure response in the CO₂ injection experimentconducted at Iwanohara at Nagaoka, JapanWhite,s., Xue,Z. and Satp,T.

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas
Control, submitted

5 Pressure transient analysis of a long-term supercritical CO₂ injection experimentat Nagaoka, Japan

Horne, R. and Xue, Z.

Energy Convension and Management,
submitted

Title
1 Modeling and Analysis of the Pressure Response in the CO₂ Injection Experiment
Conducted at Iwanohara, Niigata Prefecture, Japan

Researchers
Stephen White, Ziqiu Xue
Tatsuya Sato

Forum
GHGT-8(Trondheim, Norway), June 2006

2 Seismic Monitering and Numerical Simulation of Supercritical CO₂ Migration in
Water-Saturated Sandstone

Ji-Quan Shi, Ziqiu Xue
Sevjet Durucan

GHGT-8(Trondheim, Norway), June 2006

3 Experimental study on resistivity and SP monitering during CO₂ injection into
water-satureted prous sandstone

Kenji Kubota, Koichi Suzuki andZiqiu Xue

GHGT-8(Trondheim, Norway), June 2006

4 Time Lapse Well Logging to Monitor the Injecxted CO₂ in an onshore aquifer,
Nagaoka , Japan

Ziqiu Xue, Jiro Watanabe
Nozomu Inoue, Daiji Tanase

GHGT-8(Trondheim, Norway), June 2006

5 Monitering of Pilot CO₂ Injection in Nagaoka Using Time Lapse Well Logs

Jiro Watanabe

JFES(Japan Formation Evaluation
Society)55th Chapter Meeting、May 2006

■2006 Oral Presentation ［CO₂ Geological Storage Project]

Keigo Akimoto, Masato Takagi
Yoshitsugu Hirota, Takashi Ohsumi
Yasunobu Mizuno
Toshimasa Tomoda
7 Public perceptions on the acceptance of CO₂ geological storage and the valuable Kohiko Tokushige, Keigo Akimoto
information for the acceptanceToshimasa Tomoda
6 Economic Evaluation for CO₂ Geological Storage Considering the Scale ofEconomySaeko Mito, Ziqiu Xue
Takashi Osumi

8 Mineral trapping of CO₂ at Nakagoka test site

Daiji Tanase, Hiroshi Okuma
Nozomi Inoue, Yuko Kawata
Takashi Ohsumi
10 Time-Lapse Crosswell Seismic Tomography for Monitering the pilot CO₂ injection Hideki Saito, Hiroyuki Azuma
into an onshore aquifer, Nagaoka Japan
Dai Nobuoka, Daiji Tanase
Ziqiu Xue
Keigo Kitamura, Ziqiu Xue
11 An experimental study of Residual Gas Saturation of Carbon Dioxide in watersaturated porous sandstone by using multi-channel seismic wave imaging method
9 Pilot CO₂ injection into an onshore aquifer in Nagaoka, Japan and its simulation
study

GHGT-8(Trondheim, Norway), June 2006

GHGT-8(Trondheim, Norway), June 2006

GHGT-8(Trondheim, Norway), June 2006

GHGT-8(Trondheim, Norway), June 2006

GHGT-8(Trondheim, Norway), June 2006

2006 AAPG International Conference &Exbition, December 2006

12 Quantifying CO₂ Saturation from Time-lapse Well Logging in An Onshore Saline
Aquifer, Nagaoka, Japan

Ziqiu Xue, Jiro Watanabe
Daiji Tanase2006 AAPG International Conference &Exbition, December 2006

13 An Onverview of the Nagaoka Project

Daiji Tanase

1st CO2 ReMoVe・SP4 Workshop,
September 2006

14 Time-lapse well logging to monitor injected CO₂ in an aquifer at Nagaoka (Part I）

Daiji Tanase, Jiro Watanabe
Zique Xue, Hiroyuki Azuma

2nd Monitoring Network Meeing of IEA,
October 2006

Researchers
Hiroshi Ishida, Tatsuo Fukuhara
Yuji Watanabe, Yoshihisa Shirayama
and Lars Golmen
Masahiko Ozaki, Junichi Minamiura
Makoto Ohta, Yuichi Sasaki
Masami Matsuura

Forum
European netwaork CO₂ GEONET
workshop 1 April■2006 Oral Presentation ［CO₂ Ocean Sequestration Project]
Title
1 Effect of High CO2 on Benthic Communities in the Norwegian Fjord

2 System Plan Considering Spare Capacity Allowed for Weather Conditions for CO2
Marine Transport and Release in Deep Waters

22

OMAE（25th International Conf.on
Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Eng'g)
4-9June 2006,Hamburg,Germany

RITE Today 2007

2006 Paper, Presentation and Publication

CO₂ Sequestration Research Group

Title
Researchers
3 Development of environmental assessment technique for CO2 ocean sequestration Kiminori Shitashima, Takashi Ohsumi

Forum
OMAE（25th International Conf.on
Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Eng'g)
4-9June 2006,Hamburg,Germany

4 A Study of Effectiveness of CO2 Ocean Sequestration for Acidification of the
Ocean

Michimasa Magi, Shigeo Murai
Masao Sorai, Takashi Ohsumi

GHGT8（8th International Conf.on
Greenhouse Gas Control technologies)
19-22 June,Trondheim,Norway

5 Ecosystem model for assessment of CO2 effecst on deep-sea planktonic
communities

Kishi Yasuyuki, Yuji Watanabe
Hiroshi Ishida, Kisaburo Nakata

GHGT8（8th International Conf.on
Greenhouse Gas Control technologies)
19-22 June,Trondheim,Norway

6 Assess the effect of high concentration of CO2 on deep-sea benthic
microorganisms using a benthic chamber system

Hiroshi Ishida, Tatsuo Fukuhara
Yuji Watanabe, Yoshihisa Shirayama
Lars Golmen
Kiminori Shitashima, Yoshiaki Maeda
Yuichi Koike, Takashi Ohsumi

GHGT8（8th International Conf.on
Greenhouse Gas Control technologies)
19-22 June,Trondheim,Norway

7 Fate of liquid CO2 discharged from the hydrothermal area in the Okinawa Trough

GHGT8（8th International Conf.on
Greenhouse Gas Control technologies)
19-22 June,Trondheim,Norway

8 System Plan and Possible Merits of Locating Plural Sites for CO2 Ocean Storage Masahiko Ozaki, Junichi Minamiura
Kazuhisa Takeuchi, Yuichi Sasaki

GHGT8（8th International Conf.on
Greenhouse Gas Control technologies)
19-22 June,Trondheim,Norway

Yoshio Masuda, Yasuhiro Yamanaka
Yoshikazu Sasai, Michimasa Magi
Takashi Ohsumi
Jun Kita, Yuji Watanabe

GHGT8（8th International Conf.on
Greenhouse Gas Control technologies)
19-22 June,Trondheim,Norway

9 A numerical study with an eddy-resolving model to evaluate chronic impacts in
CO2 ocean sequestration
10 Impact assessment of high-CO2 environment on marine organisms

GHGT8（8th International Conf.on
Greenhouse Gas Control technologies)
19-22 June,Trondheim,Norway

11 Preliminary study of CO2 ocean sequestration technology for ocean acidification
controlMichimasa Magi, Shigeo Murai

WPGM(Western Pacific Geophysics
Meeting 2006) 24-27 July, Beijing,China

12 Strategy of environmental assessment for CO2 ocean sequstration

K.Shitashima, Y.Maeda andT.Ohsumi

WPGM(Western Pacific Geophysics
Meeting 2006) 24-27 July, Beijing,China

13 Naturala analogue of CO2 dispersion at deep-sea hydrothermal system

K.Shitashima, Y.Maeda andT.Ohsumi

2006 AGU Fall Meeting 2006

23

RITE Today 2007

2006 Paper, Presentation and Publication

Plant Research Group

Plant Research Group■2006 Paper
Title
1 Stomatal development in new leaves is related to the stomatal conductance of
mature leaves in poplar (Populus trichocarpa x P. deltoides ).

Researchers
S.-I. Miyazawa, N.J. Livingston
D.H. Turpin

JournalJournal of Experimental Botany 57(2):373-380

2 Ferredoxin limits cyclic electron flow around PSI (CEF-PSI) in higher plantsStimulation of CEF-PSI enhances non-photochemical quenching of Chl
fluorescence in transplastomic tobacco-

Plant Cell Physiol. 47(5): 1355-1371

3Transgenic Research 15(2): 205-217

4

5

6

7

H. Yamamoto, H. Kato, Y. Shinzaki
S. Horiguchi, T. Shikanai, T. Hase
T. Endo, M. Nishioka, A. Makino
K-I. Tomizawa, C. Miyake
Efficient and Stable Transformation of Lactuca sativa L. cv. Cisco (lettuce)
H. Kanamoto, A. Yamashita, H. Asao
Plastids.
S. Okumura, H. Takase, M. Hattori
A. Yokota, K. Tomizawa.
A strategy for desert afforestation using plastid transformation technique for CO₂ S. Okumura, M. Sawada, M. Shimamura
sequestration
Y. W. Park, T. Hayashi, A. Yamashita
M. Hattori, H. Kanamoto, H. Takase
C. Miyake, K. Tomizawa
Singlet oxygen inhibits the repair of photosystem Ⅱby suppressing theY. Nishiyama, SI Allakhverdiev
translation elongation of the D1 protein in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803
H. Yamamoto, H. Hayashi
N. Murata
Photoinactivation of Ascorbate Peroxidase in Intact Chloroplasts from Tabacco C. Miyake, M. Okamura, M. Miyata
Leaves -Galdieria partita -APX maintains the activity of the Water-Water Cycle Y. Shinzaki, M. Nishioka, S. Kitajimain Transplastomic Tabacco Plants.A. Yokota, K. Tomizawa
Massive accumulation of green fluorescent protein in tobacco chloroplasts by
K. Tomizawa, A. Yokotatransplastomic transformation.

8 Sporophyte anatomy of Cavicularia densa Steph. (Blasiaceae)

Journal of Arid Land Studies 15: 505-508

Biochemistry. 2004 Sep 7; 43(35): 1132130
Plant Cell. subumitted

Nature biotech. subumitted

M. Shimamura, T. Furuki
H. Deguchi

Bryologist submitted

Researchers
Kato H, Shinzaki Y, Horiguchi S
Yamamoto H, Nishioka M, Takase A
Hase T, Makino A, Miyake C
Tomizawa K

Forum2006 ASPB meeting■2006 Oral Presentation
Title
1 Reduction of plastoquinone in low-light conditions functioned as a signal forhigh-light
adaptation in transplastomic plants.
-Physiological function of plastoquinone as the redox sensor-

24

RITE Today 2007

2006 Paper, Presentation and Publication

Microbiology Research Group

Microbiology Research Group■2006 Original Paper
Title
Researchers
Journal
1 Complete genome sequence of the dehalorespiring bacterium Desulfitobacterium H. Nonaka, G. Keresztes, Y. Shinoda, J. Bacteriol. 188: 2262-2274. 2006.
hafniense Y51 and comparison with Dehalococcoides ethenogenes 195.
Y. Ikenaga, M. Abe, K. Naito,
K. Inatomi, K. Furukawa, M. Inui and
H. Yukawa.
T. Arai, A. Kosugi, H. Chan,
Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 71: 654-660.
2 Properties of cellulosomal family 9 cellulases from Clostridium cellulovorans .
R. Koukiekolo, H. Yukawa, M. Inui and 2006.
3 Phototrophic growth of a Rubisco-deficient mesophilic purple nonsulfur
bacterium harboring a Type III Rubisco from a hyperthermophilic archaeon.
4 High throughput transposon mutagenesis of Corynebacterium glutamicum andconstruction of a single-gene disruptant mutant library.

R.H. Doi.
S. Yoshida, M. Inui, H. Yukawa,
J. Biotechnol. 124: 532-544. 2006.
T. Kanao, K. Tomizawa, H. Atomi and
T. Imanaka.
N. Suzuki, N. Okai, H. Nonaka,
Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 3750-3755.
2006.
Y. Tsuge, M. Inui and H. Yukawa.

5 Engineering of a Xylose Metabolic Pathway in Corynebacterium glutamicum .

H. Kawaguchi, A.A. Vertès, S. Okino, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 3418-3428.
2006.
M. Inui and H. Yukawa.

6 Enhanced hydrogen production from glucose using ldh - and frd -inactivatedEscherichia coli strains.

A. Yoshida, T. Nishimura,Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 73. 67-72. 2006.
H. Kawaguchi, M. Inui and H. Yukawa.

7 Implementing biofuels on a global scale.

A.A. Vertès, M. Inui and H. Yukawa.

8 Efficient induction of formate hydrogen lyase of aerobically grown Escherichia
coli in a three-step biohydrogen production process.

A. Yoshida, T. Nishimura,Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 17. Nov. 2006.
H. Kawaguchi, M. Inui and H. Yukawa. [Epub ahead of print]

9 Technological Options for Biological Fuel Ethanol.

A.A. Vertès, M. Inui and H. Yukawa.

J. Mol. Microbiol. Biotechnol. (in press)

10 Random segment deletion based on IS31831 and Cre/loxP excision system in
Corynebacterium glutamicum .

Y. Tsuge, N. Suzuki, M. Inui and
H. Yukawa.

Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. (in press)

11 Synthesis of Clostridium cellulovorans minicellulosomes by intercellularcomplementation.

T. Arai, S. Matsuoka, H-Y. Cho,
H. Yukawa, M. Inui, S-L. Wong and
R.H. Doi.

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. (in press)

Title
1 Growth-Arrested Corynebacteria as Whole-Cell Biocatalysts for Commodity
Chemicals Production in a Biorefinery

Researchers
H. Yukawa, A.A. Vertès and M. Inui.

Forum
Pacific Rim Summit on Industrial
Biotechnology and Bioenergy, 12-13 January
2006.

2 The growth-independence bioprocess for ethanol production using

M. Inui, A.A. Vertès, S. Okino,
T. Watanabe and H. Yukawa.

The 28th Symposium on Biotechnology for
Fuels and Chemicals, 30 April - 3 May 2006.

3 Succinic Acid Production by genetically modified Corynebacterium glutamicum
under Oxygen-Deprivation

S. Okino, A.A. Vertès, M. Inui and
H. Yukawa.

The 28th Symposium on Biotechnology for
Fuels and Chemicals, 30 April - 3 May 2006.

4 Molecular Characterization of Microbial Communities in a Niigata Oil Well

K. Inatomi, S. Ishii, M. Inui and
H. Yukawa.

American Society for Microbiology 106th
General Meeting, 21-25 May 2006.

5 Random Genome Deletion Studies of Corynebacterium glutamicum

Y. Tsuge, N. Suzuki, M. Inui and
H. Yukawa.

American Society for Microbiology 106th
General Meeting, 21-25 May 2006.

6 Genome engineering and analysis of Corynebacterium glutamicum

M. Inui, N. Suzuki, Y. Tsuge,
N. Okai, M. Suda, A.A. Vertès andH. Yukawa.
M. Inui, A.A. Vertès and H. Yukawa.

10th International Symposium on the
Genetics of Industrial Microorganisms, 24-28
June 2006.

S.O. Han, M. Inui, R.H. Doi and
H. Yukawa.

The 3rd Annual World Congress on Industrial
Biotechnology and Bioprocessing, 11-14 July
2006.

Nat. Biotechnol. 24: 761-764. 2006.

■2006 Oral Presentation

Corynebacterium glutamicum

7 Oxygen-Deprived Bioprocesses for Biorefining Mixed Sugars using GrowthArrested Corynebacteria
8 Regulation of Expression of Cellulosomes in Clostridium cellulovorans During
Growth on Different Composition Biomass

The 3rd Annual World Congress on Industrial
Biotechnology and Bioprocessing, 11-14 July
2006.

Society for Industrial Microbiology Annual
9 A Simple, Robust, and Economical Process for Biorefineries: Efficient Production M. Inui, S. Okino, M. Suda,of Ethanol and Organic Acids by Growth-Arrested Corynebacteria
H. Teramoto, T. Jyojima, A.A. Vertès aMeeting and Exhibition 2006, 30 July - 3
August 2006.
H. Yukawa.
232nd ACS National Meeting, 10-14
10 Towards biorefineries and cellulosic ethanol or organic acids: Efficient production M. Inui, S. Okino, M. Suda,
from mixed sugars by growth-arrested bioprocesses using Corynebacteria
H. Teramoto, T. Jyojima, A.A. Vertès aSeptember 2006.
H. Yukawa.
K.. Inatomi, S. Yamamoto, X. Peng,
14th Annaul International Meeting on
11 Genome sequencing of dechlorinating bacterium Desulfitobacterium hafniense
Y51 and development of its DNA microarray
H. Nonaka, M. Inui, K. Furukawa and Microbial Genomics, 24-28 September 2006.
H. Yukawa.

25

RITE Today 2007

2006 Paper, Presentation and Publication

Microbiology Research Group

Title
12 Biorefining Mixed Sugars using High Densities of Growth-Arrested
Corynebacteria

Researchers
H. Yukawa, M. Inui and A.A. Vertès

13 Conversion of Mixed Sugars into Ethanol by Recombinant Corynebacterium

M. Inui, H. Kawaguchi, S. Okino,
AIChE 2006 Annual Meeting, 12-17
M. Suda, M. Sasaki, A.A. Vertès and November 2006.
H. Yukawa
H. Teramoto, H. Kawaguchi, S. Okino, International Symposium on Biocatalysis and
A.A. Vertès, M. Inui and H. Yukawa. Biotechnology, 6-8 December 2006.

glutamicum

14 Efficient conversion of glucose and xylose mixtures by growth-arrested
Corynebacterium glutamicum cells under oxygen-deprivation conditions

26

Forum
AIChE 2006 Annual Meeting, 12-17
November 2006.

RITE Today 2007

Research Institute of Innovative
Technology for the Earth
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