Fibo
Company Name:Sific<63.Sific>
1. Executive summary
As the global population increases, physical distribution is expected to increase as well. The carbon
dioxide emissions from transportation represented to airplanes and automobiles, currently account for
20% of the total[1], and the total amount of CO2 emissions is expected to rise in the future. We havedesigned a product that reduces the wasteful portion of these emissions and moves the transportationindustry toward decarbonization. Our product is a container, which is essential transportation, made ofcarbon-neutral materials lighter and stronger than conventional, which could reduce CO2 emission
physical distribution.
2. Our mission
Our company will reduce energy use in order to achieve a decarbonized society.
We focused on containers for physical distribution used in airplanes, ships, and trucks, which are
currently and will continue to be indispensable globally. Our goal is to reduce the amount of fuelconsumed and CO2 emissions.
3. Product/service Description
The concept of our product Fibo is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions during transportation by using
lighter materials than conventional containers. Generally, most of the containers are made of steel, andthe own weight of a 20ft (6 x 2.4 x 2.6m) container in ISO planning is 2250kg. [2] Fibo uses cellulose
nanofiber (CNF) as a substitute material for steel.
CNF is a biomass material made by decomposing plant-derived fibers to the nano-order (severalhundredths of a micron).
Surprisingly, CNF is 1/5 lighter and 5 times stronger than steel [3] and it has been studied as alightweight part for automobiles. Therefore, the performance is sufficient for use as a material forcontainers. By using CNF as an alternative to steel, the weight of Fibo will be approximately 0.5 tons,
which is 80% lighter than conventional material.
Since the wood-derived pulp is the most common source of plantmaterial, our company will use thinned wood to prevent excessive
logging.Thinning maintains and improves the carbon sequestration
capacity of the forest as a whole. Additionally, the injection of othercellulosic organic materials such as food waste could be considered in
the future.To degrade fiber, several methods exist; chemical treatment,
acetic acid bacteria, enzymes, and pressure exist. Our project adopted
TEMPO oxidation[4], which is considered to be inexpensive to produce.
Manufactured cellulose nanofibers will be processed into panels forcontainers by adding glass fiber and other materials as reinforcing resin and then assembled into a box
shape.
4. CO2 Emissions
As mentioned earlier, the concept of this product is to reduce CO2 emissions during transportation. The
truck industry leads Japan’s CO2 emission in terms of ton-kilometers in the physical distribution,accounting for 51.3% of the total [5]. And trucking consumes 306,750 kℓ of gasoline per year and emits
about 600 tons of carbon dioxide per year. By using our containers, the above gasoline consumption andcarbon dioxide emissions can be reduced by about 80%.

1

Business Plan
Company name Sific<63.Sific>
Currently, 280 million TEU (number of 20-foot containers) of containers are distributed worldwide, while
the number of containers handled is increasing. Our products are effective in reducing consumed
gasoline and emitted carbon dioxide as the population and distribution volume increases.
5. Marketing
The demand for physical distribution has skyrocketed globally due to the development of e-commercesites and the new coronavirus. The current market price for 20-foot containers is about 500,000 800,000 yen[6]. However, our product is priced at 650,000 yen, which is in the low to medium pricerange. Furthermore, as the container is stronger and has a longer durability than conventional containers
as mentioned above, it could be introduced by several transportation companies.
Containers focused on sustainability are untapped in the market, which could attract attention to thelogistics industry as a new product with a new concept that considers the burden on the environment.
Although containers are in demand all over the world, our business could expand on a global scale.
6. FinanceJapan's Ministry of
Economy, Trade, andIndustry (METI) has
stated that the price of
cellulose nanofiber will
drop in the future[7],which is estimated to be
reduced from around
10,000 yen to as low as
200 yen. Since
our goal is to achievecarbon neutrality by
2050, we considered
the Financial Plan forthe year 2050.
7．Conclusion
Since the industrial revolution, greenhouse gas emissions have continued to increase and climatechange is getting worse by the day. In order to reduce the burden on future generations, not only toreduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also to contribute to the prevention of transportation delays
caused by container shortages due to increased demand, is important for the logistics industry.
8．References[1]https://www.mlit.go.jp/sogoseisaku/environment/sosei_environment_tk_000007.html[2]https://freightfinders.com/container-transport/20-feet-iso-container/[3]https://www.meti.go.jp/policy/tech_evaluation/e00/03/r01/J059.pdf[4]https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2011/nr/c0nr00583e[5]https://jta.or.jp/wp-content/themes/jta_theme/pdf/student_2020.pdf[6]https://www.shippingcontainersuk.com/brands/20ft-new-shipping-containers.php[7]http://www.rish.kyoto-u.ac.jp/labm/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/10e72119b391676b286869c9df845f22.pdf2