2021Vol.16

Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth2021 Vol.16

Contents
Foreword
Efforts for Radical Innovation
Yutaka Kawakami, Managing Director, RITE

3

FeatureBeyond Zero Expo

5

R&D Activities
Research & Coordination Group
Research of the Decarbonized Society to Achieve Carbon Neutrality

14

Systems Analysis Group
Research Activities in Systems Analysis Group22

Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology Group
Development of Biorefinery Technology to Realize a Sustainable Society

30

Chemical Research Group
Challenges Associated with the Advanced Industrialization of CO2 Capture Technologies

43

CO2 Storage Research Group
Research and Development on Geological CO2 Storage for Safe CCS Operation

50

Inorganic Membranes Research Center
Research and Development of Innovative Environmental and Energy Technologies

57

that Use Inorganic Membranes and Efforts for Practical Use and Industrialization

Press Releases

63

Events63

Paper, Presentation and Publication

63

Systems Analysis Group
Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology Group
Chemical Research Group
CO2 Storage Research Group
Inorganic Membranes Research Center

Other Activities

63Foreword

RITE Today 2021

Efforts for Radical Innovation
Yutaka Kawakami
Managing Director,
Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE)
I am Yutaka Kawakami, the Managing Director of the Research Institute of Innovative
Technology for the Earth (RITE).
Last year, RITE celebrated the 30th anniversary of its establishment, so this year marks the first year in our next ten
years of progress. All of the members will work together to increase our efforts with a fresh attitude, to strive forself-improvement, produce results, and contribute to society as a public interest incorporated foundation, so I ask
you all for your continued support, guidance, and cooperation.
RITE is a research organization that is engaged in the development of technologies to solve global environmental
problems, particularly the problem of global warming. There is a sense that the global coronavirus crisis may havediminished the public's interest in the global warming problem. However, the importance of the problem of global
warming, which is a long-term issue, does not change. In his policy speech in October last year, Prime Minister Suga
declared that the aim of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 was a top priority issue. This was an acceleration ofefforts from the previous aim to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050.
The difficulty of the global warming problem is the cost burden associated with significant reductions ofgreenhouse gases. There is a trade-off relationship between the reductions and the non-global warming targets in
the SDGs. There is also consideration of the S+3E (the prioritization of safety with the simultaneous achievement ofenvironmental conservation, economic efficiency, and energy security) that forms the basis for energy policies. It will
therefore be essential to have radical innovation to solve the problem. Furthermore, the problem is so difficult that
achievement will only be possible if we approach it by mobilizing radical innovation in every field.
Under these circumstances, we are all aware that the importance of RITE is increasing, and we are continuing ourefforts each day with strong motivation.
At RITE, existing research such as CCS and biorefinery research has already progressed from the demonstration
stage to the social implementation stage, and we are working to further accelerate it. Furthermore, as I said before,
efforts are required in every field, so while we are steadily advancing those existing technologies, we are also tacklingnew challenges. The following are some examples of those new efforts.
In the Systems Analysis Group, the previous focus was on the energy supply side. However, with the advances in
AI and IT technologies, the Group is now also proceeding with simulations that take into account the possibility ofsignificant reductions in energy consumption on the demand side.
The Chemical Research Group has started working on the development of DAC technology, to directly capture CO2from the atmosphere. This has the potential to be an effective technology for significant CO2 reduction in the future.
The CO2 Storage Research Group is not only looking at storage in Japan, but also promoting the deployment of
the technologies overseas.

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Foreword

RITE Today 2021

The Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology Group has started the development of biodegradable plastics
using bioprocessing, as a technology that can make a contribution for both the global warming problem and thewaste plastics problem.
The Inorganic Membranes Research Center was previously focused on the development of hydrogen-related
technology, but has now started the development of fuel production technology using CCU with inorganic
membranes.
RITE will continue to make full use of our technological seeds, knowledge, and know-how to make it possible toaccomplish radical innovation in a wide range of fields and to take a balanced response to risks through the research
results we produce.
Please pay attention to the research results of RITE from now on.

4

Feature

RITE Today 2021

Beyond Zero Expo
Takashi Honjyo, Senior Managing Director
Isamu Yagyu, Group Leader, Chief Researcher, Research & Coordination Group
Yoshifumi Kawaguchi, Deputy Group Leader, Research & Coordination Group
Yasuaki Minoura, Manager, Research & Coordination Group
Haruo Kanaboshi, Planning Manager, Research & Coordination Group
Michiyo Kubo, Research & Coordination Group
Nami Tatsumi, Research & Coordination Group
Keigo Akimoto, Group Leader, Chief Researcher, Systems Analysis Group
Toshiyuki Hasegawa, Deputy Group Leader, Chief Researcher, Chemical Research Group
Katsunori Yogo, Associate Chief Researcher, Chemical Research Group
Hidetaka Yamada, Senior Researcher, Chemical Research Group
Kenji Uchida, Deputy Group Leader, Chief Researcher, CO2 Storage Research Group
Saeko Mito, Senior Researcher, CO2 Storage Research Group
Kenichiro Yasuhara, Senior Researcher, Inorganic Membranes Research Center

1. Introduction
As indicated in Prime Minister Suga's policy speechon 26th October, 2020, it is required that our society has
net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050. In order to achieve this,it will be important to reduce energy requirements
through higher efficiency, and to maximize the use ofenergy that does not emit CO2, such as solar and wind
power. In addition, it will also be important to establish

Fig.1 Conceptual image of the Osaka, Kansai Expo venue

systems that realize carbon neutrality by capturing the(Courtesy of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Ex-

CO2 that is unavoidably emitted and using undergroundposition)storage or fixation and utilization. Through the spreadand development of this underground storage technol-

To construct this system, it will be necessary to limit

ogy and fixation and utilization technology, andthe power supplied to the venue during the period tothrough the further reduction of CO2 emissions, it isenergy that does not emit CO2. Also, for city gas, thethought that we will be able to approach the realization

CO2 emissions from production and consumption willof a Beyond Zero state which exceeds neutral (in otherbe offset with credits. The hydrogen used will also bewords, zero), as described in the Environment Innova-

either green or blue hydrogen and be carbon neutral. Intion Strategy. At the Osaka, Kansai Expo in 2025 (Fig.1),

addition, electric or hydrogen vehicles will be used in-rather than a simple exhibition of Beyond Zero, we willside the venue and the CO2 generated by any gasoline

propose the Beyond Zero Expo as a pioneering systemvehicles will be offset with credits in the same way as forfor achievement within the venue during the exhibitioncity gas. We will achieve carbon neutrality as a starting

period.

point through these efforts.
As the next step, in this proposal, we will capture CO2from the atmosphere in the venue and either store it
underground or fix and utilize it, in order to realize a

5Feature

RITE Today 2021

state Beyond Zero and to promote environmental tech-displays at the Expo venue. We want to create a Beyond

nology.

Zero Pavilion of the equipment together with an exhibi-

The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is abouttion of carbon neutral, DAC, underground storage, and

400 ppm, which is only a few hundredths of the concen-

other CO2 fixation and carbon recycling technologies, totration of CO2 in the current practical applications ofpromote Japan's environmental technologies to thecapture technology. It is not really possible to say thatmany visitors.

the technology to capture this efficiently has alreadybeen established. However, if we make full use of

CCS

Injection wells

Japan's cutting-edge technology, then we believe that
it will be possible to produce a DAC (Direct Air Capture)

Lignite gasification+
CCS

Atmosphere

Liquefaction

Carbon neutral hydrogen

CO2 capture device(DAC device)
Methanation

device that efficiently captures CO2 in units of tons (perof a process called CO2 Capture and Storage, or CCS)

only be a few hundred tons, which is actually quite small

Acrylic

FC busNuclear

Solar

Tableware,
lighting andsouvenirs
Carbon neutral electricity
Vegetables

Carbon neutral city gas
Guest house kitchenwithin the venue in order to process the captured CO2
permanently. The amount stored during the period will

Methanol synthesis

City gasday) by 2025, and to install and operate it at the venue.
Next, we will also perform underground storage (partPlantfactory

CO2

Emissions trading
Hydro

Wind

J-Credit participants, etc.
(Parties introducing energy-savingor renewable energy, etc.)

Fig.2 Conceptual image of the Beyond Zero Expo proposal(as there are proven results of 300,000 tons over three
years at Tomakomai). However, the fact that the storage

This special issue gives a detailed introduction towill be in Osaka, which is a large city, will make it a rev-

each technology for the realization of the Beyond Zeroolutionary attempt unprecedented in the world, so it

Expo. First, Chapter 2 discusses the need to achieve car-will have great significance.

bon neutrality and the prospect of achieving Beyond

In addition, carbon recycling technology will also be

Zero. Chapter 3 then introduces DAC, undergroundrealized within the venue as an environmental technol-

storage, and other technologies. As a summary, Chapter

ogy. Specifically, a methanation device for producing

4 discusses the relationship between this proposal andmethane from CO2 from the DAC device mentioned

the basic policy of the Osaka, Kansai Expo.

above and carbon-free hydrogen will be installed within
the venue. The methane produced will then be supplied

2. For the achievement of carbon neutrality

to the guest house kitchen and elsewhere as city gas.

As described in the previous chapter, on 26th Octo-

Similarly, CO2 will be supplied to the plant factory in-ber, 2020, Prime Minister Suga declared the intention tostalled in the venue and the vegetables cultivated will

"Aim for carbon neutrality and decarbonization by

be provided to the guest house kitchen on a daily basis.

2050". Here we discuss what measures are required to

In addition, acrylic resin made using methanol pro-achieve carbon neutrality.

duced from CO2 fixation as a raw material will be used

2.1. Multiple possibilities for carbon neutrality achieve-

to manufacture fixtures and fittings for the venue andmentsouvenirs.

The Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C

Fig.2 shows a summary of these proposals. Further-(SR15) by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

more, we want to position the equipment as exhibition

Change (IPCC) noted that to limit the increase to 1.5°C,

6Feature

RITE Today 2021

it will be necessary to achieve a net near-zero level ofthrough the reduction of materials and energy services

global CO2 emissions in around 20501). Carbon neutral

through digitization. For the reduction of CO2 emissions

in 2050 is in line with this.

per unit of power, it tends to be easier to reduce these

In SR15, four typical pathways are presented. Of thesefor electricity than for non-electric power, so the IPCC

four, the two extreme pathways are as follows. The firstalso emphasizes the importance of promoting electrifi-

is a scenario of exhaustive energy conservation, known

cation whilst simultaneously promoting the decarboni-as the Low Energy Demand (LED) scenario. On the en-zation of power sources2). On the other hand, for bothergy demand side, the amount of energy currently be-energy conservation and the reduction of CO2 emis-

ing used greatly exceeds the level that is originally nec-

sions per unit of power, when the effort for a large re-essary. There is a possibility that the use can be greatly

duction is increased, in other words, when the effort to

reduced by changes such as advances in digitization

bring the figures to close to zero is increased, the costs

technology. The scenario shows that if social changes

increase rapidly. Furthermore, there are some sectors

also occur, then a society with low energy demand andwhere the reductions are more difficult than those for

low CO2 emissions can be realized. (The RITE Systems

CO2, such as methane from livestock production. One

Analysis Group launched the research project, EDITS

major direction for achieving carbon neutrality will be(Energy Demand changes Induced by Technological andto cancel out those remaining emissions by using neg-

Social innovations) research project in FY2020 andative emission technologies (NETs). However, as men-

started detailed international studies on low-energy de-tioned in the previous section, there are several differ-mand scenarios.) The LED scenario described in SR15

ent prospects for the level of contribution of each. We

does not assume the use of CDR (Carbon Dioxide Re-should aim for carbon neutrality with a wide range of

moval) technology. Another model scenario is theoptions.

achievement of carbon neutrality during the time whenwhilst also using a large amount of CDR technology. In
addition to CCUS, the CDR also includes biomass withCCS (BECCS), which produces negative emissions, andthe direct capture and storage of atmospheric CO2(DACCS). It will be desirable to have multiple scenarios
as we go on to enhance the feasibility of carbon neu-

CO2 emissions
CO2 intensity of electricity or non-electric energy(Illustrative)

fossil fuels continue to be cheap, by using fossil fuelsElectric powerwith net-zero emissions

Electric power

energyImprovementofelectrification
rate

Electricity
saving or
Reduction in
embodied
electricity ofgoods /
services

Decarbonizationof power source(renewables,
nuclear, CCUS
etc.)

from load balancing thermal
Energy consumption Emissions
power or uncaptured CO from CCS etc.
2trality so that it can be achieved at an early stage.

Non-electric energy
with net-zero emissions Non-electric

Conversion tonatural gas ,Bioenergy,
Hydrogen,
CCUS,
Methanation
etc.

Non-CO2 GHGs

Energy saving
or Reductionin embodied
energy ofgoods /
services

Fossil fuel emissions in case thatelectrification is technically andeconomically difficult

To be offset by NETs
e.g., forestation,
BECCS, DACS

Fig.3 Conceptual image of measures for net zero emissions

2.2. Image of carbon neutrality achievementin terms of greenhouse gas emissions

Fig.3 shows a conceptual image of measures for net
zero emissions (= carbon neutral) in terms of green-

In the same way, Fig.4 shows an image of measures

house gas emissions. Broadly speaking, there is energy

for net-zero from the viewpoint of primary energy sup-conservation and there is the reduction of CO2 emis-

ply in Japan. In principle, it is necessary that primary en-

sions per unit of power. Firstly, what is fundamentally

ergy only consists of renewable energy, nuclear energy,

important is the conservation of energy, including

and fossil fuels with CCS. However, it is also important7

Feature

RITE Today 2021

to consider the utilization of overseas resources for re-reach net zero in around 2060 and 2050 respectively,

newable energy and CCS, and in doing so, conversion

and then become negative (Beyond Zero). For green-

to hydrogen is important. Hydrogen is also called green

house gas emissions, the scenarios have net zerohydrogen when it originates from renewable energy

reached in around 2100 and 2065, respectively, andand blue hydrogen when it originates from fossil fuel +then a negative figure after that. For the 1.5°C scenario,

CCS. To improve convenience, it may also become im-in the assumptions for this model, there were no feasi-

portant to convert hydrogen to ammonia or synthetic

ble solutions without the assumption of DAC (Table 1).

fuel for transportation and utilization. However, there isa high possibility that fossil fuel use without CCS will

Table 1 DAC-related model analysis scenarios

also remain. It will be necessary to cancel this out withmeasures such as afforestation, BECCS, and CO2 miner-

Emission

DAC

scenarios

costs

2℃(No DAC)No DAC

2℃(DAC，High

alization (CO2 fixation in concrete sector, etc.). However,High cost)

due to volume constraints, the use of DACCS is also

Low cost)

2℃(DAC，<２℃(>66%)

cost
Low
cost

considered important. There is a limit to the storage ca-

1.5℃(No DAC)

<1.5℃ in

No DAC

1.5℃(DAC，

2100

High

pacity of CCS, which includes BECCS and DACCS, so it isHigh cost)(>66%),cost

1.5℃(DAC，

Overshoot ofLow

Low cost)

temperaturecost

important to secure CO2 storage sites and also it is very
important to consider the utilization of CO2 storagesites overseas.

Feasibility
〇
〇
〇
×
〇
〇

Note) The assumptions for DAC are based on Ref. 4). The
required energies in 2050 are 5.5-7.2 GJ/tCO2 and 4.7
GJ/tCO2 for the high and low cost scenarios, respectively.

【Domestic primary energy supply】
Energy saving or
Reduction in embodied
energy of goods/services(incl. Society 5.0)

Fig.5 shows the balance between global CO2 captureand storage/use in the results from this model analysis.

【Use of overseas resources】
Nuclear(For details of the analysis, see reference 3.) Even under

Nuclear
Domestic renewables

DecarbonizedenergyRenewable energy

the scenario where the cost of DAC is assumed to be

Measures of grid to expand
renewables (incl. storage battery)Use of renewables surplus
for hydrogen

Use of overseas renewables(green hydrogen) (import ofhydrogen, syn. fuels (CCU))

high (a maintenance of the current technology level),Sys. fuels prone to be generated fromfossil fuels if the constraint on CO2 isloose in the producing country, while from
BECCS or DAC (with increased cost) if theconstraint is strict.

the cost of the energy inputs will be reduced by utilizing

Use of overseas CO2 reservoir (pre-combustion CO2
capture) (import of blue hydrogen)

Fossil fuels + CCS

Remainingfossil fuels

Fossil fuels w/CCS
Fossil fuels
w/o CCS

Domestic CO2 storage

BECCS, DACS

Use of overseas CO2
reservoir (postcombustion)

Forestation, mineralization (concrete CCU)

Negative emission technologies (NETs)【Use of overseas
resources】

Fig.4 Conceptual image of measures for net zero emissionsin terms of primary energy supply in Japansurplus renewable energy, so when aiming for carbon
neutrality, it is evaluated as a cost-efficient option inaround 2050. In the scenario where it is low cost, thereis even more extensive use. As the use of DACCS makes
negative emissions possible, it will still be possible to2.3. Example of comprehensive analysis using the global
energy and climate change mitigation assessment
model: The role of DACCS
Next is an example analysis of the total global
measures for carbon neutrality by using the global en-

use fossil fuels without CCS at an appropriate level.
There is still a long way to go in DAC technology development, but it will contribute to the achievement of
cost-effective carbon neutrality as a whole, and also
bring achieving Beyond Zero into view.

ergy and climate change mitigation assessment model,
DNE21+. In the emissions scenarios, in the scenarios forless than 2°C and for less than 1.5°C, the CO 2 emissions

8

Feature

RITE Today 2021

80

60

Capture

60

20

0

-20

-40

-60

40
40

20
20

0
0
-20
-20

-40
-40

Syn. methanol (CCU for chemicals)

-60

-80

Storage,utilization

-80
-80

2050

2050

2℃(DAC,
DAC)
2℃(No
DAC)
2℃(No
High cost)
2℃(DAC,
2℃(DAC,
2℃(DAC,cost)
HighHighcost)
Low cost)
2℃(DAC,
2℃(DAC,
1.5℃(DAC,
cost)
LowLow
cost)
High cost)
1.5℃(DAC,
1.5℃(DAC,
cost)
HighHighcost)
1.5℃(DAC,
Low cost)
1.5℃(DAC,
1.5℃(DAC,
cost)
LowLow
cost)

2℃(DAC,High cost)
DAC)
2℃(No
DAC)
2℃(No
2℃(DAC,Low cost)
2℃(DAC,
2℃(DAC,cost)
HighHighcost)
1.5℃(DAC,
2℃(DAC,
2℃(DAC,High cost)
cost)
LowLowcost)
1.5℃(DAC,
1.5℃(DAC,
1.5℃(DAC,
Low cost)
cost)
HighHighcost)
1.5℃(DAC,
1.5℃(DAC,
2℃(No DAC)
cost)
LowLow
cost)-60

2℃(No DAC)

CaptureCO2 cap: DAC (HT, elec.)
CO2 cap:
cap: DACDAC (HT,(LT) elec.)
CO2
CO2 cap:
cap: DAC
crinker
prod.
CO2
(LT)
CO2 cap:
cap: crinker
steel prod.
CO2
prod.
CO2 cap:
cap: steelhydrogenCO2
prod.prod.
CO2 cap:
cap: hydrogenbiomass power
CO2
prod.
CO2 cap:
cap: biomass
gas power
CO2
power
CO2 cap:
cap: gasoil power
CO2
power
CO2 cap:
cap: oil
coal
power
CO2
power
CO2
cap: coal
EOR
CO2
cap:
power
Storageandutilization
CO2 cap:
cap: EORECBM
CO2CO2 cap:
cap: ECBM
depr. gas well
CO2
CO2 cap:
cap: depr.
deep gassalineaquifer
CO2
well
Syn. cap:
methaneCO2
deep(methanation)saline aquifer
Syn. methane
liquids (methanation)
Syn.
CCUliquids
in concrete sector
Syn.
Syn. inmethanolfor chemicals)
CCU
concrete(CCU
sector60

40
CO2回収と貯留・利用量[GtCO2/yr]
CO2回収と貯留・利用量[GtCO2/yr]

CO2 capture, storage, and utilization [GtCO2/yr]

8080Table 2 Status of DAC technology development overseas 5）
Company name

Materials

Energy /Cost of CO2
separation and capture

Remarks

Climeworks(Swiss)Amine modified
filter (Solidsorbent material
and resin filter)

9.0 GJ/t-CO2，
600 $/t-CO2(Target costaround 2025: 100 $/t-CO2)

Launched the world's first commercial
plant(900t-CO2/y), which has alreadybeen installed in eight locations. Energy
and costs are high.

Carbon Engineering(Canada)Aqueous solution
containing
KOH/Ca(OH)2

5.3 GJ/t-CO2，
94-232 $/t-CO2

Plan to put two 500,000 t-CO2/y DAC
plants into operation in 2022 with
Occidental Petroleum. The only company
using alkaline aqueous solution.

Global Thermostat(USA)

Amine-containing
ceramics(Solidsorbent material)

4.4 GJ/t-CO2，
150 $/t-CO2(Target cost: 50$/t-CO2)

Working in cooperation with Georgia
Institute of Technology. Has alreadyinstalled six units and constructed 4,000
t-CO2/y pilot plant.

Center for Negative
Carbon Emissions(USA)

Ion-exchange
resin

220 $/t-CO2(Target cost: 30 $/t-CO2）

Adsorption/desorption using
dehumidification/humidification swing.
Proposing installation of AT alongexpressways.

The VTT TechnicalResearch Center(Finland)Ion-exchange
resin

8.9GJ/t-CO2

1～2kg-CO2/d on Day/night capture cycle

2100

2100

2050
2100
Fig.5 Balance between
global CO
2 capture and storage/use

The target CO2 concentration of DAC is only 400 ppm.
This is two to three orders of magnitude lower than that

3. Technology introductionof exhaust gas from coal- and natural gas-fired power

3.1. DAC

plants. This is a main reason that the DAC cost will be

Since the concept to capture CO2 from the atmos-

high. The amount of air that contains one ton of CO2 isphere was proposed as a feasible option for climate

approximately 1.27 million m3. What this means is thatmitigation technology, development of direct air cap-even if the capture rate is 100%, it would take the air ofture (DAC) technologies have attracted much attention.

one Tokyo Dome to capture 1 ton of CO2 from the air.

According to the Energy Technology Perspectives 2020,

In order to make DAC realistic, it will be necessary to

for the achievement of sustainable development sce-develop CO2 separation materials with unprecedented

narios, BECCS (Bio-energy with CCS) and DACCS (Direct

high performance, and to construct a process that

Air CO2 Capture and Storage) are expected to achieve

makes it possible to absorb and desorb large amounts

negative emissions of 3 Gt-CO2/y by 2070. The utiliza-of air efficiently. Now, RITE is working on the develop-

tion of captured CO2 by DAC is also be considered, how-ment of new materials based on our experience in theever, the effect of removing the CO2 from the atmos-

development of solid sorbents and amine compounds

phere by CCU is small. DAC can be used as a negative

and a highly efficient DAC system with the cooperation

emission technology by combining it with storage asof private companies and universities (Fig.6).

DACCS.
DAC is considered to be energy intensive and costly,

Development ofmaterials and systems

Air (CO2 400 ppm)

but it does use less land area and water than BECCS,
afforestation, or reforestation, so it is possible to sup-・Development of new sorbent
for DAC・Reduction of pressure loss
(blowing power)
・Downsizing of equipment
・High-efficiency process development

CO2 captured airpress the problem of competition with land use for foodproduction, and the adverse impacts on biodiversity.

Large-scaledemonstrations

As shown in Table 2, some researches are being car-・Direct capture of several tons/day of
CO2 from the atmosphere
CO2
CO
2
CO2

ried out in the United States and Northern Europe.
However, the capture cost is currently high. Therefore,

Fig.6 Development of technology to capture CO2 from thebased on a detailed cost estimation, the reduction of

atmosphereboth costs (CAPEX) and thermal and electric energy(OPEX) are required.

9

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RITE Today 2021

In this proposal, we want to make full use of Japan's

1mm Seal layer(E.g., Mudstone)

cutting-edge technology to produce a DAC device that
efficiently captures CO2 in units of tons (per day), and to
install and operate it at the venue.

Reservoir（E.g., Sandstone）

3.2. Underground storage of CO2
Methods for CO2 injection and storage in the groundinclude EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery), where CO2 is injected into oil fields to perform enhanced oil recovery,
ECBM (Enhanced Coal Bed Methane), where CO2 is injected into coal seams to recover methane, and CO2 geological storage in deep saline aquifers.

Grain

Fig.7 Schematic diagram of underground CO2 storage

The geological structures necessary for the storage of
CO2 underground include a "reservoir" and a "seal layer".

Fig.8 shows a general outline of a CO2 storage site.

Sedimentary layers such as porous sandstone are suita-

The CO2 is captured from the source generating it andble for the "reservoir", and saline aquifers with large

then either stored directly below ground from facilities

permeability correspond to this.

on the surface, below the seabed from ground facilities,

Saline aquifer storage is a method of storage that tar-or below the seabed from offshore facilities.

gets sandstone layers at depths of 800 m or more below
ground. The sandstone layers are geological strata
formed by the accumulation of sand grains. Salt water
which is not used for groundwater utilization fills thegaps between the sand grains. Fig.7 shows a conceptual

OnshoreStorage site
Injection
well

Separation &CaptureOffshore
Storage site

Transport via
pipeline

CO2
CO2

image of saline aquifer storage. CO2 is injected into thesandstone layer via a well that is drilled from the groundsurface. CO2 pushes away the part of salt water and ac-

Fig.8 General outline of an underground CO2 storage site

cumulates in the gaps, and also some of it is dissolvedin the salt water. It is possible to store the CO2 stably

As discussed in the previous chapter, the under-

over a long period of time if there is a seal layer such as

ground storage of CO2 is one of the important options

mudstone above the sandstone layer. Mudstone hasfor sequestering the CO2 that is captured.

strong sealing properties and allows hardly any gas or
liquid to pass through.

A large number of CO2 injection wells would be required for CCS at a level that would suppress global
warming. However, the number is only a small fractionof the number of oil production wells that have been
drilled to date around the world. It is expected that theunderground storage of CO2 will be utilized in earnest
and become one of the measures against global warming. An introduction to this kind of underground CO 2

10

Feature

RITE Today 2021

storage at the Osaka, Kansai Expo will be very meaning-

There are also expectations for methanation as a tech-

ful for spreading knowledge of CCS to a wide audience.

nology for that storage and for the stabilization of the

In this proposal, underground storage will be carried

power system.

out within the venue. The amount stored during the pe-

The reason for converting hydrogen to methane isriod of the event will only be a few hundred tons, whichthat the storage, transportation, and use of hydrogenis actually quite small (as there are proven results ofwould require new capital investment and the develop-

300,000 tons over three years at Tomakomai). However,ment of new equipment technology. However, methane

the fact that the storage will be in Osaka, which is a large

has almost the same composition as natural gas, so if itcity, will make it a revolutionary attempt unprecedented

is connected to a gas pipeline, then it can be used with-in the world, so it will have great significance.

out building new equipment. In addition, the possibilities for methane as an energy carrier are attracting at-

3.3. Other

tention from the viewpoint of low carbonization for the

3.3.1. Methanation

utilization of heat from primary energy.

Methanation is a technology to synthesize methane

In Europe, where decarbonization is in progress, Audi

from CO2 and hydrogen. The synthesis requires energy,

is operating a demonstration plant with a methanation

but unlike hydrogen, it has the major advantage that it

capacity of 315 Nm3/h, which makes it the largest

is possible to utilize the existing city gas infrastructure,demonstration plant in the world. It performs the

so it is attracting much attention.

methanation using electricity derived from renewable

The technology itself is an existing technology thatenergy and CO2 separated from biogas, with the as-

was discovered in 1911 by the French chemist Sabatier.

sumption that the price for renewable energy will fall

In Japan, as part of a NEDO project to develop effective

when a large amount of it is placed on the market. Also,

CO2 utilization technologies, INPEX and Hitachi Zosen

in China, which aims to achieve net zero CO2 emissions

constructed a test facility with a methane synthesis ca-

by 2060, Hitachi Zosen announced in December 2020

pacity of 8 Nm3/h in 2019 and have conducted demon-that it would conduct a feasibility study for methanation

stration testing such as continuous operation. On thetechnology, and plans to evaluate the supply chain andother hand, there have not yet been any examples ofbusiness profitability for social implementation.

utilization as city gas. The issues for this are scaling up

In this proposal, we are considering the installation ofand the improvement of the conversion efficiency anda methanation device within the venue. The device will

economic efficiency. The synthesis requires four times

use CO2 from the DAC device mentioned above andas much hydrogen as CO2, but if the hydrogen is pro-supply the methane to the guest house kitchen andduced using the surplus electricity from renewable en-elsewhere as city gas.

ergy sources, then the use of synthetic methane can reduce the amount of natural gas used as a fossil fuel and3.3.2. Methanol synthesis

contribute to decarbonization. In addition, if a large

Methanol is used widely as a raw material to produce

amount of renewable energy power is introduced as alower olefins such as ethylene and propylene. It is alsomeasure to achieve net-zero carbon, then one issue willa basic raw material for chemicals such as synthetic res-be the storage of the large amount of surplus electricity.

ins, adhesives, chemicals, and paints. The annual de-11

Feature

RITE Today 2021

mand for it globally is about 80 million tons. It is pro-

Methanol synthesis

duced under high temperatures and high pressures

Using Methanol derived from CO2 that captured from the atmosphere in the Expovenue to manufacture acrylic resin for use in tableware and souvenirs

through multiple manufacturing processes, and themain raw materials currently used are fossil resources
such as natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, and coal.
Instead of using fossil resources as the raw materials
to obtain methanol, it can be synthesized by using hy-【Reaction formula】

CO2 + 3H2

Methanol

CH3OH + H2O

CO2 captured fromexhaust gas andthe atmosphere

Acrylic resin(PMMA)

H2 from zero emissions

Acrylictableware

Methacrylic acid
MAA

MMA
MonomerLighting using acrylic

drogen derived from renewable energy and CO2 obtained by capturing it from the atmosphere or from theIndirect lighting using PMMA sheets

combustion exhaust gas from facilities such as coal
combustion power plants and blast furnaces. Doing thisPMMA sheets and Japanese paper
A reflective agent is applied
are laminated and bonded, andby printing and emits light
lit from the bottom

Fig.9 Methanol utilization at the Expomakes it possible to simultaneously reduce greenhousegas emissions while producing the useful industrial
product methanol.

3.3.3. Plant factory
Plant factories are a facility that could utilize CO2 on

The methanol that is obtained from these raw mate-a global scale in the future. Plant factories can be either

rials of CO2 obtained from capture and hydrogen de-

the artificial light type or the solar light type. Of these,

rived from renewable energy can then be reacted withan artificial light type plant factory (Fig.10) uses artificial

methacrylic acid to synthesize an acrylic resin (PMMA).

light as the light source and has air conditioning andAcrylic resins have high transparency and impact re-liquid nutrient cultivation to control the environmental

sistance and are easy to process and color, so they are

elements necessary for plant growth (light, temperature,used in various applications such as window materials

humidity, CO2 gas concentration, and airflow). Thesefor buildings and vehicles, covers for lighting fixtures,

can stably cultivate high-quality plants throughout theand signboards.

year6).

In this proposal, we would like to show examples ofFor example, for leaf lettuces, for which the technol-

the realization of a carbon recycling society by using

ogy has already been applied, it is necessary to add 22

this acrylic resin at the venue. This includes use in ex-

kg of CO2 in order to produce 3,000 leaf lettuces (of 100

hibits and souvenirs, and in transparent boards sur-g each), and this greatly contributes to productivity6). In

rounding the DAC (Direct Air Capture) equipment dis-

addition, further development and advances can be ex-

played at the Expo venue as equipment to capture CO2

pected, such as through the research and developmentfrom the atmosphere (Fig.9).

currently being carried out for strawberry production.
In this proposal, carbon recycling and the latest technology for plant factories will be promoted by setting
up a small factory to produce the latest vegetables forwhich the technology has been applied. The factory will
use CO2 captured by the DAC within the venue and will
supply the vegetables to the guest house kitchen.

12

Feature

RITE Today 2021

4)

M. Fasihi et al., J. Cleaner Prod. (2019)

5)

ICEF[Direct Air Capture of Carbon Dioxide]etc., Prepared based on data published by each company

6)Japan Plant Factory Industries Association Website

Fig.10 Example of an artificial light type plant factory（Source: Techno FarmTM Website）

4. Conclusion
At the 2025 Osaka, Kansai Expo, rather than just exhibiting about Beyond Zero, we are proposing a pioneering system that uses technologies such as thosedescribed above to achieve Beyond Zero within thevenue during the period of the Expo.
The outline of this proposal was already presented on
September 24, 2020 at a symposium hosted by RITE,
and it was also reported on October 14 as an article in
the Chemical Daily.
Also, in the basic policy for the Osaka, Kansai Expothat was decided by the Cabinet on December 21, 2020,
the third of the twelve basic concepts is active efforts
for radical innovation toward carbon neutrality. We will
make further efforts to refine and actualize our proposal
for the realization of this basic policy.

References
1)

IPCC Special Report “Global warming of 1.5℃” (2018)2)

5th Assessment Repot of IPCC WG3 (2014)

3)

F. Sano et al., The 36th Conference on Energy, Economy, and Environment (2021)

13

R&D Activities ● Research & Coordination GroupRITE Today 2021

Research & Coordination Group
Members (As of Dec. 2020)
Isamu Yagyu, Group Leader, Chief Researcher
Makoto Nomura, Deputy Group Leader, Chief Researcher
Yoshifumi Kawaguchi, Deputy Group Leader
Takayuki Higashii, Chief Researcher
Tetsuya Deguchi, Associate Chief Researcher
Yoshinori Aoki, Associate Chief Researcher
Taizo Uchimura, Associate Chief Researcher
Jun-ichi Shimizu, Associate Chief Researcher
Yasuaki Minoura, Manager

Haruo Kanaboshi, Planning Manager
Daisuke Kihara, Vice Manager, Researcher
Sou Kuranaka, Vice Manager
Yuka Matsugu, Chief
Yumi Kobayashi, Researcher
Natsuko Yasumoto, Researcher
Nami Tatsumi
Michiyo Kubo
Mizuki Nagata

Research of the Decarbonized Society to Achieve Carbon Neutrality
The Research and Coordination Group aims to i)
searching for new research topics that enhance the re-term strategy, so as to achieve the carbon neutrality as
early as possible in the second half of this century.

search potential of RITE, proposing and implementing“The Moonshot Research and Development Program,new research themes, ii) government support for the re-Goal 4：Realization of sustainable resource circulation tolation with international organizations such as IPCC (In-

recover the global environment by 2050”3) was started

tergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), ISO (Inter-and RITE’s proposal was selected, too.

national Standard Organization), iii) dissemination of

In October 2020, Prime Minister Suga declared the

RITE’s technologies and Human development of the fu-

goal of realizing a carbon-neutral, decarbonized society

ture generation, iv) practical application of technology

by 2050 at the 203rd extraordinary Diet session4), so thethrough industrial collaborative R&D, together with theaction to achieve the carbon neutrality was accelerated.

research groups/center. These efforts lead to a creation

The Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Kajiyama

of new policy implementation, R&D and innovation

explained,” The challenging goal of achieving carbon

aiming at the global environment and the economy .

neutrality by 2050 is the new growth strategy in Japan1)

In 2020, Japan declared the goal of realizing a car-and METI will implement every possible policy measurebon-neutral, decarbonized society by 2050, so it is out-

to create a virtuous circle of economy and environment.”

lined at first.

The idea that to cope with global warming is the constrains and the cost of economic growth should be

1. Actions towards achieving 2050 carbon neutrality

switched and to positively take the countermeasures

In 2020, Paris Agreement, the International Frame-leads to the reforms of the industrial and social struc-work on Climate Change, started the full implementa-

ture and promotes towards the next growth. And

tion. Therefore, Japan formulated "Environmental Inno-“Green Growth Strategy towards 2050 Carbon Neutral-vation strategy"2) in January, 2020, which aims at the es-ity”5) was formulated in October 2020 as an industrial

tablishment of the "Beyond Zero" Technologies in 2050

policy to aim toward a positive cycle of economic

to reduce CO2 that were emitted in the past and pro-

growth and the environmental protection.

mote the social implementation clarified for the long-14

R&D Activities ● Research & Coordination GroupRITE Today 2021

The Strategy towards 2050 Carbon neutrality indi-standardization, ④ international collaboration, etc.

cates the tentative goal of the 2050 Energy Demand and(Fig.3).

Supply as a reference figure, in order to discuss Energy

This strategy will be reviewed about the implementa-

Policy and the future goal of energy demand and supply

tion of action plans in a steady manner and the im-

as it is important to reduce the emission of greenhouseprovement of goals and measures, in order to revise thegases in energy sector which occupies more than 80%

strategy in the future.

of total amount (Fig.1).

The Research and Coordination Group aims to early

The Strategy determined 14 priority fields to achieve

establish the innovative technology mentioned “Envi-

2050 carbon neutrality (Fig.2) and formulated “actionronmental Innovation Strategy” with the researchplans” covering comprehensive policies in areas such asgroups & center to achieve 2050 carbon neutrality.

①goals scheduled towards 2050, ②research & development and demonstration, ③regulation reforms and20181060 million tons

2020 MIX
930 million tons（▲25％）

2050年
Balance between Emissions and Absorptions
0 ton（▲100％）（Tentative target to discuss in the future. Several
Scenarios are analyzed as well as the below)

non-electricity

Household Sector
110 million tons

Household Sector
90 million tons

Industrial Sector
300 million tons

Industrial Sector
330 million tons

Transportation Sector
200 million tons

Transportation Sector
150 million tons

Electricity Demand＝30～50％ increase

Electricity

Hydrogen、methanation, Synthetic fuel, biomass

Maximum
utilization of CO2
Capture & Recycle

Fossil fuelelectricity

Decarburization Power Supply

450 million tons

Renewables
Nuclear

360 million tons

Thermal Power Plant＋CCUS/Carbon Recycle

Hydrogen・Ammonia（50～60%）（30～40%）（10%）

Negative
Emission

Plantation,
DACCS, etc.
※ Figures is CO2 emissions of the energy origin.

（Source) “Green Growth Strategy towards 2050 Carbon Neutrality” (Dec. 2020)

Fig.1

Image towards carbon neutral

15

R&D Activities ● Research & Coordination GroupRITE Today 2021

Expansion of the Growth Fields
From now to 2030, and 2050
Transportation & Manufacture-related Industry

Energy-related Industry

Household & office-related Industry⑥Semiconductor & Information
Communication Industry①Offshore Wind Industry⑤Car・Battery Industry

Windmill Body & Component &Floating Wind Power

EV & FCV & Next Generation
Battery

Data Center & Energy-saving
Semiconductor（Efficiency of Demand Side）②Fuel Ammonia Industry⑦Ship Industry

Power Generation Burner（Transition Fuel towards theHydrogen Society）

Fuel Cell Ship & EV Ship & Gas
Fuel Ship, etc.
（Hydrogen・Ammonia etc.）⑧Logistics & Personal
Movement & Civil
Infrastructure industry③Hydrogen Industry⑨Food & Agriculture,
forestry and fishery Industry

Power Generating Turbine &Hydrogen Reduction Iron & Carrier& Water Electrolyzer⑫House & Architecture
Industry／Next-generation
Solar Power Industry（Perovskite）⑬Resource Circulationrelated Industry
Biomaterial & Recycle Material &Waste Power Generation

Smart Traffic & Distribution Drone &FC Construction

Smart Agriculture & Wooden
Multistory Building & Blue Carbon⑩Airplane Industry⑭Lifestyle-related Industry

Hybrid & Hydrogen Airplane

Local decarbonization Business④Nuclear Industry⑪Carbon Recycle Industry

SMR & Hydrogen Production
NuclearConcrete & Biofuel & Plastics
Raw Material（Source）”Green Growth Strategy towards 2050 Carbon Neutrality” (Dec, 2020）

Fig.2⑪Growth Strategy "Time Schedule"of Carbon Recycle Industry※Main examples●Concrete
Cost Target
2030
30 yen level/kg（= Current Products）

2021

2022

Arranged figure of important industry●Introduction Phase : 1 ．Ｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔ Ｐｈａｓｅ

2 . Ｄｅｍｏｎｓｔｒａｔｉｏｎ Ｐ ｈａｓｅ

4 . Commercial Phase●Policy Means： ①Target, ②Law (Regulatory Reform etc), ③Standardization, ④Tax, ⑤Budget, ⑥Finance, ⑦Public Procurement

2023

2024

2025

～2030

・Considering the Introduction of Osaka EXPO (2025)
・Registering the concrete absorbing CO2 with t h e M LIT database as the new technology andinforming the local government
Sales expansion by the pu blic procurement, cost reduction

・Technology development of
the r u stproof concrete

3 .introduction Growth /ｏ ｓｔ Ｒｅｄｕｃｔｉｏｎ Ｐｈａｓｅ

～2040

～2050

・Sales e xpansion t o t he de veloping c ountries, by
PR in the international standardization and largescale international exhibition

・Demonstration of the rustproof concrete・Implementation of joint project r e lated C O2 c arbonic acid c hlorination (concrete) between Japan an d US
・ Concluding the MOC related to Carbon recycling cooperation, and promoting the collaborative research & demonstration●Fuel
Cost Target
100 yen level/L in 2030(＝Cureent Products)

Biofuel of Alga Orgin・L arge-scale demonstration and cost reduction towards the commercialization around 2030
・Regarding International Civil Aviation Service, ICAO's agreement not to increase CO2 Emissions（2021～2035年） compared with 2019（※ICAO：International Civil Aviation Organization）
・Continuously production improvement and technology development of the quality improvement,
promoting the improvement of CO2 Capture efficiency and the stable increase of Algae

・Depending on the trend of the international
market of the biojet fuel, supply expansion of
the competitive algae jet●Chemicals
Cost Target
100 yen level/kg in 2050（= Curent Products）〔Artificial photosynthesis

・Development of high productivity photocatalyst needed the large-scale demonstration
・Deregulation, formation of security and safety standards

・L arge-scale
Demonstration］

・Cost reduction &Introduction suppoort by
Subsidy, etc.

●Capture
Cost Target（/CO２t）
low-pressure gas：2000 yen level in 2030

high-pressure gas：
1000yen level in 2030
DAC：
2000yen level in 2050

target scale
about 2.5 billion CO2 tons
in the world in 2050

○Emission Gas Origin
・Development of high efficiency CO2
Capture and Cost Reduction

・L arge-scale Demonstration

・Introduction G rowth by more cost reduction○Atmosphere Origin（DAC）
・Research and development of the CO2 Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology from the atmosphere,
utlizing the Moonshot Research and development Program(energy efficiency improvement, c o st reduction)・More cost reduction
by Demonstration

・Introduction G rowthby more Cost
Reduction・Subsidy, etc.

（Source）”Green Growth Strategy towards 2050 Carbon Neutrality” (Dec, 2020）

Fig.3

Example of “Time Schedule” of time schedule16

R&D Activities ● Research & Coordination Group

2. Research activities

RITE Today 2021

Saudi Arabia. There are some requirements that these

It is expected that the CO2 reduction effect of CCUS

CCS projects are established, and they are pointed out(Carbon dioxide Capture, Utilization and Storage) tech-as follows. At first, if CO2 is captured in the existing pro-nology would be 9% by 2050 in the IEA’s World Energy

cess, the addition cost to be necessary on performing

Outlook 2019 (Fig. 4).

CCS is only investment to modify the transportation and

6)

RITE studied the investigation of CCS introduction en-

the Injection, so they are the relatively low-cost projects.

trusted by METI which was the investigation researchAlso, the CCS projects which are able to get the profit

related to the global warming & resources circulation

by EOR or the natural gas production, and which get ameasures , so it is outlined in the below.

subsidy, tax credit, etc. are economically realized. In

7)other words, it says that their projects are the examplesof Low-hanging fruits which can easily start like the lowcost realizable ones or the profitable EOR.
In addition, the system framework of CCS introduction overseas is considered, assuming the implementation of private sector. It is to make the business model,
which have various incentives (subsidy, tax credits, debt
Fig.4

Estimated CO2 reduction by CC(U)S technology

guarantee, etc.) and the systems, including the transfer
to the Government about the long-term responsibility

2.1. Global large commercial CCS projects

after the Injection.

Global CCS Institute (GCCSI)8) counted 21 operations

The mass transportation of the CO2 is considered as

and 4 constructions as large CCS projects in June, 2020

pipeline or ship transportation, but ship one needs the(Fig.5). GCCSI defines the large project as more thantechnology developments such as the optimization of

about 400,000 tons/year in the Capability of CO 2 Cap-liquefaction facilities, etc. Also, it is better that theture. (At present, GCCSI changed the definition anddemonstration is early started because of the expecta-

classifies CCS project as operation or not.)tion of the cost reduction up-sizing in the future.

Many large projects use the captured CO2 as EOR (En-Also, many sites of the large-scale CO2 Storage arehanced Oil Recovery) and the CO2 come from the pro-essential for 100 million tons quantity a year needed theduction process of Natural Gas refinery, Fertilizer, Hy-future CO2 injection in Japan, so Japan CCS Co., Ltd.

drogen production etc. The total amount of CO2 perma-(JCCS) performed the research to select prospective

nently stored by the operation projects is about 37 mil-sites for CO2 Storage. According to the research, theylion tons a year and it is estimated at about 40 million

are estimated as about 7 billion tons in the 3D explora-

tons a year, adding the capacity of the construction

tion area and about 46 billion tons (3 billion tons in thestage.

detail investigation and 43 billion tons in the rough investigation) in the 2D exploration area.

2.2. Problem arrangement and future challenges

Though the injection quantity was uncertain, Japan

Regarding 21 large CCS projects operating in thehas enough potential quantity for CO2 storage. But it isworld, the implementation bodies are all private com-necessary to evaluate the potentiality of the geologicalpanies except state-owned companies in China andlayer, total economic efficiency including the emission17

R&D Activities ● Research & Coordination Groupsource, and the safety, in order to select the potentialsites for CO2 Storage.

RITE Today 2021

CCS projects, in order to promote CCS.
Both public and private sectors need to start to for-The most reasonable policy is the scenario that firstly

mulate the practicable roadmap and the action plan im-

starts the project of the Low-hanging Fruits and gradu-

mediately, and it is important that public and private

ally promotes cost reduction and then begins the larger

sectors share the responsibility to implement them.

Phase

Title

Industry

Facility Storage Type

Terrell Natural Gas Processing Plant

Natural Gas Processing

EOR

1972

0.4～0.5

Enid Fertilizer

Fertiliser Production

EOR

1982

0.7

Shute Creek Gas Processing Plant

Natural Gas Processing

EOR

1986

7

Country

Operational

USA

Century Plant

Natural Gas Processing

EOR

2010

8.4

Air Products Steam Methane Reformer

Hydrogen Production

EOR

2013

1

Coffeyville Gasification Plant

Fertiliser Production

EOR

2013

1

Lost Cabin Gas Plant

Natural Gas Processing

EOR

2013

0.7

Illinois Industrial Carbon Capture andSequestration

Ethanol Production

Onshore deep
saline formation

2017

1

Petra Nova Carbon Capture

Power Generation

EOR

2017

1.4

Synthetic Gas Processing

EOR

2000

3

Power Generation

EOR

2014

1

Hydrogen Production

Onshore deep
saline formation

2015

1

EOR

2020.60.3

EOR

2020.6

1.6

EOR

2013

1

1996

1

Great Plains Synfuels Plant andWeyburn Midale
Boundary Dam Carbon Capture andStorage
CanadaQuest

Alberta Carbon Trunk Line with Agrium CO2 Stream
Fertiliser Production

BrazilAlberta Carbon Trunk Line with NorthWest Sturgeon Refinery

Oil Processing

Petrobras Lula Oil Field

Natural Gas Processing

Sleipner CO2 Storage

Natural Gas Processing

Snøhvit CO2 Storage

Natural Gas Processing

2008

0.7

Uthmaniyah CO2-EOR

Natural Gas Processing

EOR

2015

0.8

NorwaySaudi Arabia

Operational Date Facility Capture Rate

Offshore deep
saline formation
Offshore deep
saline formation

UAE

Abu Dhabi CCS

Steel production

EOR

2016

0.8

China

CNPC Jilin Oil Field CO2 EOR

Natural Gas Processing

EOR

2018

0.6

Natural Gas Processing

Onshore deep
saline formation

2019

Australia

Gorgon CO2 Injection Project

21 large-scale CCS projects (CO 2 Capture quantity(tCO 2／year)）
In construction
China
USA
Norway3.4～4
36.8～37.5 million

Yanchang Integrated Carbon Captureand Storage

Fertiliser Production

EOR

2020～2021

0.41

Sinopec Qilu Petrochemical CCS

Fertiliser Production

EOR

2020

0.4

The ZEROS ProjectPower Generation

EOR

2020

1.5

Cement Production

Offshore deep
saline formation

2024

0.4

Langskip CCS - Brevik Norcem

Fig.5

The situation of the large-scale CCS projects in the world18

R&D Activities ● Research & Coordination Group

3. Promotion of international partnership

RITE Today 2021

3.2. ISO3.1. IPCC

ISO (International Standard Organization) is an or-

IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)

ganization composed of 165 standardization bodies ofhas established in 1988 with a view to conducting avarious countries. Carbon dioxide capture and storage

comprehensive assessment from a scientific, technical(CCS) is one of the important options for global warm-and socioeconomic standpoint on climate change, im-ing countermeasures because it has a great effect of re-pact, adaptation and mitigation measures by anthropo-

ducing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. In the world,

genic sources, the United Nations Environment Pro-a number of CCS verification projects on a commercial

gram (UNEP), and the United Nations Environment Pro-

scale are also implemented, and international collabo-

gram (UNEP), and by the World Meteorological Organ-

ration is under way. The international standard plays an

ization (WMO).

important role, contributing to the widespread use of

IPCC examines scientific knowledge on global warm-

safe and appropriate CCS technology.

ing with three WGs, a global warming prediction (WG1),

RITE is a domestic deliberation organization on ISO /influence and adaptation (WG2), mitigation measures

TC 265 (collection, transportation, and storage of CO 2)(WG3).

and is in charge of a secretariat of WG 1 (collection).

RITE plays the central role of domestic support secre-

Through these activities, we are conducting interna-tariat of mitigation measures (WG 3) (Fig. 6). This out-tional standardization on design, construction, opera-

come is to have a high influence on international nego-tion, environmental planning and management, risk

tiations because the scientific basis is also given to the

management, quantification, monitoring and verifica-

policies of each country. IPCC published the special re-tion, and related activities in the CCS field through in-port ‘Global Warming of 1.5℃’, ‘Climate Change andternational standardization (Fig. 7).

Land’, ‘The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Cli-

In December, 2020, nine standards related to the CCS

mate’ from 2018 to 2019. For 2022 ‘Sixth Assessment

field have been published from ISO / TC265, and six are

Report (AR6)’ has been steadily prepared in the IPCC

under development. Of the standards under develop-

global researcher network. The report is expected to be

ment, two in the CO2 collection and storage fields area source of knowledge on climate change, its causes,

being developed by Japan.

potential impacts and response options.
Domestic Committee of
IPCC in Japan
Chair：Yoichi KAYA（RITE)

Carbon Dioxide Capture, Transportation andGeological Storage(CCS)

Domestic Committees ofeach WG
Working Group I（WG1)・Chair；Akimasa SUMI(TheUniversityofTokyo)

・Numberofmembers;14

WG1 (Capture)

Convenor ：Japan
Secretariat ：Japan

WG3 (Geological Storage)

Convenor ：Canada
Secretariat ：Canada

WG5 (Cross-cutting
issues)Convenor ：France
Secretariat ：France

WG6 (CO2-EOR)

Convenor ：US
Secretariat ：US

ISO/TC265

Working Group Ⅱ（WG2)Working Group Ⅲ（WG3)・Chair；Nobuo MIMURA(Ibaragi University)
・Numberof members;14

・Chair；Jun ARIMA

Chair：Canada
Secretariat：Canada, China
P-member：20 countries
O-member：10 countries
Liaison：7 organizations(TheUniversityofTokyo)

・Numberof members;17

Observers

Capture WG

Relevant
Ministries andAgencies

Leader：Mr. Higashii (RITE)

Ministryof Education,
Culture,Sports, ScienceandTechnology/
JapanMeteorological
AgencyMinistry of theEnvironment

Japan Weather
Association

GlobalEnvironmental
Forum

Secretariats ofeach Domestic WG

Ministry of
Economy, Tradeand Industry

RITE＊Members of each working group (WG 1, WG2, WG3) consist of AR6 and SR authors.

Fig.6

Committee structure and RITE

ISO/TC265
National mirror
committee

National Secretariat
ＲＩＴＥ
Contracted by JISC which is set up in
METI

Chair ： Prof. Sato（Tokyo Univ.）
Member ： about 25 members

Transportation WG
Leader：Prof. Ozaki （Tokyo Univ.）

Storage WG
Leader：Prof. Matsuoka （Kyoto Univ.）

Q&V・Cross Cutting Issues WG
Leader：Dr. Akai （AIST）

CO2-EOR WG

ISO /TC 265 Structure in Japan (Mirror committee)

Fig.7

Leader：Mr. Hiraoka （INPEX）

ISO/TC265 structure19

R&D Activities ● Research & Coordination GroupRITE Today 2021

4. Human development and industry collaboration

the university and research guidance at the laboratory

4.1. Human development(Fig. 9). RITE established a university collaborative la-<Elementary and high school students>

boratory in the field of bioscience with Nara Institute of

RITE promotes extracurricular learning using research

Science and Technology. Here we are conducting re-facilities for elementary, junior high and high school

search and education aimed at realizing a recycling-

students. And RITE also welcomes teaching requests

type and low-carbon society by using renewable re-where staff members visit schools using teaching mate-sources effectively using biomass as a raw material.

rials and equipment. Such demands for human development are growing year by year. But because of Novel
Coronavirus in 2020, we held classes and workshops for
37 students only in January and February 2020 com-知識

Research
LeaderTutor

Appointment
guidance

Education

pared with 397 students in 2019. For example, we
picked up CCS technology from RITEʼs research and explained the global warming mechanism. We are con-

思考

Research
Trainee

Student

Appointment

ducting activities based on the learning cycle such as
deepening understanding through discussion and ex-

RITE（R&D）

change of views (Fig. 8).

Fig.9

Energy consumption
And Global warming

Action

Study
Cycle

RITE and environment education(University / Post graduate student）

4.2. Intellectual property and industry collaboration

Knowledge
Solar panel、
Fuel cellWorkshop

University（Education）

Discussion andExchange of views for
Future energy、Global warming

RITE acquires and manages intellectual property
rights such as patents and know-how strategically andefficiently on results obtained in R&D. As of the end of
2020, the patents owned by RITE are 106 domestic

Understanding

rights (11 of which are licensed to companies) and 49
foreign (13 of which are licensed to companies). RITE
has established an IP management Committee and operates it with intellectual property experts (Fig. 10).

Fig.8

RITE and environment education(Elementary, middle and high school students）

In order to develop academic research, it is importantto create knowledge as a public property of the world
by publishing research papers. In addition, we have pa-<University / Postgraduate student>

tented inventions of researchers’ creation and granted

RITE is promoting collaboration of education withlicenses to challenging enterprises. As a result, it is pos-

universities as part of human development supporting

sible to accelerate industrialization and simultaneously

the next research and technology. We are accepting

promote public interest and innovation as a public re-young talented people, mainly graduate students, tosearch institution. Intellectual property brings up op-

the research site. Here, we are developing education at

portunities to cooperate with industries. It is expected20

R&D Activities ● Research & Coordination GroupRITE Today 2021

that a virtuous circle is created based on appropriate

the achievement of “a balance between the global en-

information management and contracts to create fur-vironmental protection and economic growth”.

ther intellectual property. It is also expected that the aspect of the intellectual property that enables related

Referencetechnologies to be used to support standards, such as

1） RITE, “The Role of RITE” (http://www.rite.or.jp/about/)

collaboration with international standards (such as sec-

2） “Environmental Innovation Strategy”

tion 3.2). Based on the market and other research and(https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/tougou-innovation

development trends, RITE promotes intellectual prop-/pdf/kankyousenryaku2020.pdf)

erty strategically.

3） “The Moonshot Research and Development Program,
Goal 4：Realization of sustainable re-source circulation
to recover the global environment by 2050”

RITE

Society・MarketKnowledge

IP* Management Committee
Collaborative
R&D

Industryject.html#a4)
Researchers
IP managers

Industrial
Cooperation
team・
IP Expert

Technology
Transfer

Proposalfor IP
Invention Certification, Patent Application,
Request for Patent examination,
Patent MaintenanceFig.10(https://www8.cao.go.jp/cstp/moonshot/pro-

Strategic IP management and industrial
collaboration

4） Prime Minister Suga’s Policy Speech at the 203rd extraordinary Diet session(https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/seicho/seichosenryakukaigi/dai6/)5） ”Green Growth Strategy towards 2050 Carbon Neutrality”(https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/seicho/seichosen-

5. Conclusion
In 2020, Japan declared the goal of realizing 2050

ryakukaigi/dai6/)6） IEA, World Energy Outlook (2019)

Carbon Neutrality, and It is 30th years since RITE was(https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-established whose functions are to aim the achievement

2019)

of a balance between Global environmental protection7） RITE’s CCS research entrusted by METI (2019)and economic growth. To realize 2050 Carbon neutrality,(https://www.meti.go.jp/meti_lib/re-

Japan needs to establish the innovative technology

port/2019FY/000145.pdf）

showed by” environmental innovation strategy” and the8） GCCSI（Global CCS Institute）

RITE’s CO2 Capture technology is one of the necessary(https://www.globalccsinstitute.com/)technologies. But to realize 2050 Carbon neutrality is
impossible by remarkable efforts. It is necessary that
RITE also promotes the social implementation proactively.
The Research and Coordination Group not only collects domestic & foreign policy and technology information, but promotes the technology development inorder to aim the social implementation in 2050 with Research Group/Center. Thereby, RITE can contribute to21

R&D Activities ● Systems Analysis GroupRITE Today 2021

Systems Analysis Group
Members (As of Dec. 2020)
Keigo Akimoto, Group Leader, Chief Researcher
Toshimasa Tomoda, Chief Researcher
Koya Yamada, Associate Chief Researcher
Kenichi Wada, Senior Researcher
Miyuki Nagashima, Senior Researcher
Takashi Homma, Senior Researcher
Fuminori Sano, Senior Researcher
Junichiro Oda, Senior Researcher
Hironobu Yamakawa, Senior Researcher
Haruo Kanaboshi, Senior Researcher (concurrent)

Ayami Hayashi, Senior Researcher
Atsuko Fushimi, Senior Researcher
Yuko Nakano, Researcher
Naoko Onishi, Researcher
Hitotsugu Masuda, Researcher
Kiyomi Yamamoto, Assistant Researcher
Misako Saito, Assistant Researcher
Kiyomi Kitamura, Assistant Researcher
Sachiko Kudo, Assistant Researcher

Research Activities in Systems Analysis GroupThe Systems Analysis Group aims to provide valuablepromotion of mineralization, such as mineralization of

information about response measures to global warm-

cement, does not require additional energy during theing and energy issues through systematic approaches

process.

and analyses. This article presents the outcomes of the

It should be noted that the fuel use, for instance, does

analyses that our group has been conducting for future

not have CO2 emission reduction effect since CO2 cap-

scenarios with regard to the countermeasure strategies

tured and used for synthesis is emitted at combustion.

for decarbonization.

In that case, CO2 plays a role as an intermediary for hydrogen transport to enhance the convenience of hydro-

1. Role of CCU for realizing Carbon Neutrality

gen. CO2 can be reduced by replacing fossil energy withThe direction of the measures for realizing carbon

carbon-free hydrogen energy. The CO2 emission reduc-neutrality and the role of Direct Air Carbon Capture andtion effect by the alternative is the same as the amount

Storage (DACCS) as a negative emission technology areof CO2 used for synthesis.

explained in the featured article about Beyond EXPO. In

In principle, there is no difference in the CO2 used forthis chapter, we introduce the role of Carbon Capture

synthetic fuels regardless of its source, even if the CO2

Utilization (CCU) for pursuing carbon neutrality with thefrom fossil fuel combustion is captured and used. How-

analyses by our global energy and climate change mit-

ever, in that case, fossil fuel combustion is performed

igation assessment model, DNE21+.

separately, and gross zero emission cannot be achieved.

1.1. Overview and Focal points of CCU

Therefore, in order to achieve net zero emission, nega-

There are several forms of CCU, such as Enhanced Oiltive emission technologies (NETs) should be conducted

Recovery (EOR) as a form of CO2 storage, and the use

somewhere in the world to cancel out the CO2 emission

for fuels, chemicals and promoting mineralization, andfrom the fossil fuel combustion. There are some argu-

so on. CO2 is chemically stable thus additional energy

ments on one hand that the CO2 used for synthetic fuelswith synthesized hydrogen etc. is necessary to utilize itshould be limited to the CO2 captured by DAC or fromfor energy or chemicals. On the other hand, thebioenergy emission, however, it is necessary to evaluate

22

R&D Activities ● Systems Analysis GroupRITE Today 2021

in terms of economic efficiency for the whole system.

consumption, hydrogen will be used as itself in various

Although the evaluation of CCU is difficult, which may

ways, including power generation, hydrogen direct re-lead to both overevaluation and under-evaluation, it isduction steelmaking, and transportation, and also theimportant to make a better assessment in the whole

use for synthetic fuels with captured CO 2, such as syn-system considering the current status.

thetic methane and synthetic oil, is evaluated as an economically efficient measure. Fig. 2 shows the global CO2

1.2. Evaluation of the role of synthetic fuel, a representa-

consumption for synthetic fuels. This amount is equal totive example of CCU by DNE21+

CO2 reduction effect caused by replacing fossil fuelsThis section shows the example of the analyses on thewith use of synthetic fuels (carbon-free hydrogen). The

countermeasures for global carbon neutrality by global

result shows that the CO2 used for synthetic fuels is notenergy and climate change mitigation model, DNE21+.

limited only to captured CO2 by DAC or from biomass

The DNE21+ can make an assessment until 2100, withcombustion but mainly captured CO2 from fossil fuel54 regions, in which around 500 technologies can be

combustion, even under B1.5D_3_DAC, where DAC is as-

assessed. Here, we introduce the analysis results about

sumed available.

synthetic fuels for which systematic analysis is considered particularly important. For detailed assessment ofTable 1Model analysis scenarios

synthetic methane and synthetic oil, please refer to Reference 1) and 2), respectively. Reference 1) indicatesthat applying synthetic methane would be economicallyefficient in the case that there are large differences in
the marginal abatement cost (MAC) of emission reduction target among nations, as it would be economicallyrational that methanation is conducted in the country
where MAC is relatively low and the methane is exported to and used in the country where MAC is relatively high. The result of the scenario where the globally
equalized MAC is assumed, which tends to show slightlyNote) 1: The assumed PV costs in the standard scenario are below
60$/MWh accounting for about 6% of the global PV potential and
60-80$/MWh for about 24% in 2050. Those in the low cost scenarios are below 30$/MWh accounting for 15% of the global PV potential and 30-40$/MWh for about 14%. 2: It is assumed that fullyautonomous cars are available in 2030 and ride-/car-sharing is accelerated in the fully autonomous cars and share mobilities acceleration scenarios. 3: The assumed necessary energy for DAC is
4.7GJ/tCO2 in 2050.

conservative result for synthetic fuels, is introduced inthis article.
Table 1 shows the assumed scenarios for model analysis.
The production and consumption of hydrogen which
is an energy source of synthetic fuels are shown in Fig.
1. The major production method will be gasificationfrom coal and lignite with CCS (blue hydrogen) in thestandard cost case of PV (2DS_1 scenario) and waterelectrolysis by solar PV (green hydrogen) in the low-

Fig.1

Global hydrogen balances

cost case of PV (scenarios other than 2DS_1). As for23

R&D Activities ● Systems Analysis GroupRITE Today 2021

(hereinafter referred to as BCA) is being discussed as
one of the options to deal with this problem. In general,
the BCA is a border measure that imposes the sameburden on imported products from countries with insufficient emission reduction efforts as domestic products.
In December 2019, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, announced the European Green Deal (see Reference 3), that contains a
Fig. 2Global CO2 consumption for synthesis fuels

goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It
also includes a roadmap for the carbon border adjust-The use of synthetic methane can contribute to real-

ment mechanism (CBAM). At the European Council

izing carbon neutrality with utilizing existing infrastruc-meeting in July 2020, it was agreed that the institutional

ture and gas appliances by use of piped gas. As for syn-design would be completed in the first semester of 2021

thetic oil, it will be possible to achieve carbon neutrality

with a view to its introduction at the beginning of 2023.

while utilizing existing infrastructure and technologies,

It should be noted that introduction of BCA involves

such as hybrid vehicles, in the road transport sector.

challenging issues, regarding such as compatibility with

Also, the use of those synthesis fuels will be effective forWorld Trade Organization (WTO) rules, the methodol-

the measures which are difficult to replace with electric-ogy for assessing the carbon content of products andity or hydrogen in the aviation, marine bunkers, industry,

how the tax rate is adjusted.

and other sectors. The role of synthetic fuel as CCU
should be evaluated integrally with hydrogen supply,

2.2. Methodology

and the evaluation is not simple. However, our analyses

We examine the impacts of BCA by using the global

suggest that it can be an important piece of measuresenergy-economic model that we have developed,

for achieving carbon neutrality.

called the DEARS model4). The model is an integrated
model of a top-down economic module (general equi-

2. Assessing impacts of border carbon adjustment using

librium type) whose objective function is to maximize

global energy-economic model

the global utility of consumption, and a simplified bot-

2.1. Background of border carbon adjustment (BCA)

tom-up energy system module. In the economic mod-The goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050 hasule, 16 non-energy industries are assumed, and the in-been set by countries around the world. If the cost of

put-output (IO) structure based on the GTAP (global IO

burden of reducing GHG emissions in one country istable), is explicitly modeled. Regarding trade, the Arm-

greater than that in other countries, it will affect the in-ington structure with the substitution between im-

ternational competitiveness of energy intensive coun-ported and domestic products is formulated.

tries in that country and will lead to leakage of CO 2This study focuses on steel products as a case study

emissions to other countries (substitution of domestic

and shows the economic impacts and CO2 emissions

products by overseas products and transfer of produc-under multiple cases, by assuming two types of tarifftion bases overseas). Border Carbon Adjustment

methods for border adjustment as follows.

24

R&D Activities ● Systems Analysis GroupRITE Today 2021

I. BCA tariff

the impact of favorable treatment for the product group

In general, the BCA tariff rate is determined by the av-

with the lowest intensity.

erage CO2 intensity embodied in the imported products
made in the country of origin. In this case, heterogene-

Table 2
Case name

Simulation cases

Regions

CarbonFavora-Retali-with do-tariffs:

ble

atory

ity within the same products is not considered.

mestic

32$/tC

treat-

tariffs

II. CSTR (Cooperative Sectoral Tariff Reduction) tariff

carbonO2ment for

by

tax:

good

ROW

32$/tCO2

per-

(-R)

The CSTR tariff, proposed by Banks and Fitzgerald

former(2020)5), is based on the differentiated CO2 intensity em-[w/o tax

bodied in the imported products, taking into accountiff]

the heterogeneity within the same ones. The CSTR tariff
will encourage a shift to the products with relatively low

and tar(-G)(1) TRI

[US,

EU,

×

×

JPN]
(2) WLDAll regions

intensity, which leads to more reduction in CO2 emis-(3) TRI-BCA[US,

sions. However, because of the considerable difficulty(4) TRI-BCA-R

involved in estimating the distribution of energy inten-(5) TRI-CSTR

sity of steel production within each country, the follow-

×
×

×

×

EU,

BCA

×

×

EU,

BCA

×

〇

EU,

CSTR

×

×

EU,

CSTR

×

〇

EU,

CSTR

〇

×

EU,

CSTR

〇

〇

JPN]
[US,
JPN]
[US,
JPN]
(6) TRI-CSTR-[US,

ing assumptions were made for this analysis. First, steel

R

JPN]

(7) TRI-CSTR-[US,

products are classified into three product groups (uni-

G

JPN]

(8) TRI-CSTR-[US,

versal grouping) according to their energy intensity: (i)

G-R

JPN]

Good (0.10[GJ/$]), (ii) Middle (0.80), and (iii) Poor (1.50)(hereinafter referred to as Good, Mid., and Poor, respectively). Then, the ratios belonging to each productgroup by region are assumed to be consistent with thestatistical data of regional average energy intensity insteel production.
Following previous studies6)7), we assume substitutability between demand of imported products and thatof domestic ones by using a CES-type function with theelasticity of substitution (δ) that is assumed to be 1.5 inthe standard case. Furthermore, we assume an elasticity
of substitution of 2.0 for the demand between the product groups.
Table 2 shows the simulation cases in this study. We

We assume that the carbon price and carbon tariff are
32$/tCO2 referring to the EUA price of EU-ETS (July
2019), and the tax revenue is used for government consumption (the general account). The carbon price andcarbon tariff are assumed to be levied on emissions after allocating electricity and heat. Export tax rebate, therefund of carbon tax paid on exported products, is also
considered. Although various types of retaliatory
measures can be considered, we assume that the samerate as carbon tariff is levied on the steel products as aretaliatory tariff. The baseline (without additional climate policies) socio-economic scenario in this study is
assumed to be the median scenario (SSP2)8).

examine the impact of BCA and retaliatory measures
based on a simplified scenario in which Japan, the US
and the EU cooperate in implementing domestic emission reduction measures while the rest of the world(ROW) do not take any measures. Two types of carbon
tariff are assumed as mentioned above, and we explore

2.3. Results(1) Impacts of different carbon tariffs
In the BCA (Cases 3 and 4) and CSTR (Cases 5 through8) implemented by the US, the EU and Japan, the steel
production values have turned positive, respectively,

25

R&D Activities ● Systems Analysis GroupRITE Today 2021

In the case of retaliatory measures by ROW in response

will reduce the decline in international competitivenessto the border adjustments by the US, the EU and Japan,(Fig. 3). Also, the introduction of BCA and CSTR has thethe relative price of import from the US, the EU and Ja-

effect of reducing carbon leakage when compared topan in ROW relative to the cases without retaliation will

Case 1 (Fig. 4).

increase, resulting in a shift of steel production from the

1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8
-1.0

US, the EU and Japan to ROW (Fig.5). In addition, retal-

Mid. & Poor_ROW

iatory tariffs will reduce the international competitive-

Good_ROW
Mid. & Poor_US, EU and Japan
Good_US, EU and Japan

0.8
0.6
Mid. &0.4
Poor_ROW

Changes in steel productions(10Billion$, relative to (5))

Mid. & Poor_ROW

0.2
Good_ROW
0.0
-0.2
-0.4
Mid. & Poor_US,EU-0.6
and Japan-0.8
Good_US,EU and
Japan

(6)
TRI-CSTR-R

8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
-2%

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8
(4)
TRI-BCA-R(2020)

Changes in steel productions(10Billion$, relative to (3))(5)
TRI-CSTR(7)
TRI-CSTR-G

estimated to be very small.

Fig. 3 Impact of BCA and CSTR on steel production

Good_ROW
Mid. & Poor_US,EU
and Japan
Good_US,EU andJapan(8) TRI-CSTR-G-R(7) TRI-CSTR-G(6) TRI-CSTR-R(5) TRI-CSTR(4) TRI-BCA-R(3) TRI-BCA

Fig. 5 Impact of retaliatory tariffs on steel production(1) TRI

Carbon leakage rate(%)

ness of the US, the EU and Japan, and worsen leakage(Fig. 4). The impact on global emission, however, is also

TOTAL

(3)
TRI-BCA

Changes in steel productions(10Billion$, relative to (1))

relative to Case 1, therefore, both types of carbon tariffs(2020)(3) Impacts of international cooperation
In Case 2, which assumes all countries cooperate to re-Fig. 4 Carbon leakage (2020)

duce emissions and impose the same rate of carbon

Note) Carbon leakage is expressed as increase in CO 2

price on domestic production of steel in all countries,

emissions (for steel productions) in the rest of the world

the steel production of “Mid” and “Poor” in ROW de-(ROW) over CO2 reductions in the US, the EU and Japan

creases compared to Case 1, while the production byrelative to the baseline.

the US, the EU and Japan increases (Fig. 6).

the production shift to steel products with the lowest
intensity (classified as “Good”), however, the impact ofdifferences in tariff methods is not significant. Similarly,
with regard to the global CO2 reduction effect, the dif-Mid. & Poor_ROW

2.00
1.00

Good_ROW

0.00
Mid. & Poor_US, EU and Japan

-1.00
-2.00

Good_US, EU and Japan

-3.00

(2)
WLD

It is estimated that both BCA and CSTR will promote

Changes in steel productions(10Billion$,
relative to (3)TRI-BCA)

3.00

TOTAL

ference caused by the differentiated tariff methods is

Fig. 6 Impact of international cooperation on steel pro-not large, such as from the comparison between Case 3

duction (2020)

and Case 5 in Fig. 4. Rather, the exemption for products“Good” has a large impact on the production shift to(4) Comparison of impacts by region

products “Good”, but the impact on the global emission

When the US, the EU and Japan implement border ad-

reduction is limited.

justment measures, other countries such as China havehigher incentives to implement retaliatory measures(2) Impacts of retaliation(Fig. 5). Under such circumstances, the impact on the US,

26

R&D Activities ● Systems Analysis GroupRITE Today 2021

When the elasticity of substitution between domestic

retaliation being relatively large in Japan and small inand import products is large (δ=2.8)10), the carbon leak-the US (Fig. 7). The following two factors can be consid-

age rate increases in Case 1 compared to the standard

ered. First, although Japan has a lower intensity of bothassumption (δ=1.5) due to a larger shift to other regions

converter steel and electric furnace steel than that of(Fig. 8). Moreover, while the border adjustment

other countries9), Japan’s superiority is not properly re-measures have the effect of reducing leakage, the retal-

flected in a framework that does not distinguish be-

iatory measures increase the leakage rate compared totween converter steel and electric furnace steel. There-

the standard case.

5%
δ＝2.8

0%

different regional impacts of border adjustment and re-No
BCA/CSTR

BCA/CSTR
and no retaliation(8)
TRI-CSTR-G-R(6)
TRI-CSTR-R

port-import ratio of steel products is also a factor in the(4)
TRI-BCA-R-5%(7)
TRI-CSTR-G(high ratio of electric furnace steel)”. Second, the ex-

δ＝1.5

10%

(5)
TRI-CSTR“Japan (high ratio of converter steel) > the EU> the US

15%

(3)
TRI-BCA

after tariffs are levied, is estimated to be in the order of

20%

(1)
TRI

fore, the rate of increase in the price of steel products

Carbon leakage rate(%)

the EU and Japan will differ, with the negative impact of

BCA/CSTR
and retaliation

taliatory measures. The ratio of steel product export toFig. 8 Impact of change in elasticity of substitution on

import in the baseline scenario in 2020 is estimated tocarbon leakage rate (2020)

be 5.0 for Japan, 0.9 for the US, 2.0 for the EU, and 1.5
2.4. Conclusionof border measures and large negative impacts of retal-

The two types of carbon tariffs methods, a general BCA

iatory measures.

tariff based on the average product intensity and a

Conversely, the US has a high import ratio, suggesting

CSTR tariff based on the intensity of each product, werethat the benefits of border measures are large and theestimated to reduce the loss of international competi-

negative impacts of retaliatory measures are small. In

tiveness due to domestic reduction measures and to re-addition, under the framework that does not distinguishduce carbon leakage, with little difference between the

between converter steel and electric furnace steel, thetariff methods.

US with its high ratio of electric furnaces, is estimatedConversely, retaliatory measures were estimated to re-to be superior in terms of intensity. Therefore, in thisduce the international competitiveness of Japan, the US

framework, the US has a high incentive to implement

and the EU and to worsen carbon leakage, although theborder adjustment measures even with retaliation.

impact on global emissions was very small. Under the

1.0
0.5

Japan

0.0

EU

-0.5

US
(8) TRI-CSTR-G-R(7) TRI-CSTR-G(6) TRI-CSTR-R(5) TRI-CSTR(4) TRI-BCA-R(3) TRI-BCA(2) WLD-1.0(1) TRI

Changes in steel productions(10Billion$,relative to baseline)

for China. Japan’s high ratio will result in small benefits

Fig. 7 Changes in steel production by region (2020)

framework we examined, the results implied that the incentives to introduce border adjustments would differ
depending on the regional structures of production andtrade.
For future work, it will be important to consider theextension of the classification of converter steel andelectric furnace steel with respect to steel products, as(5) Sensitivity analysis on elasticity of substitution be-

well as the extension to other energy-intensive and ma-

tween domestic and imported products

jor trade products.

27

R&D Activities ● Systems Analysis GroupRITE Today 2021

3. Overview of Research Project (EDITS) on Low Energy
Demand Society Affected by Technological Innovationand Social change
In 2020, RITE started a new research project, EDITS(Energy Demand changes Induced by Technological andSocial innovations), which includes international modelcomparisons of analyses on energy demand changes

Fig. 9and their impacts. The project is supported by Ministry

Global Energy Consumption by Usage（when primary energy consumption is 100%）11)

of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
3.1. BackgroundFor example, advances in ICT can have a significant

We do not consume energy because we want to. We

impact on mobility. A change called Connected; Auton-

consume its embodied energy for obtaining services. A

omous; Service & Shared; Electric (CASE) is happening.

lot of energy is wasted to obtain that service, especially

The utilization rate of private cars is estimated to benear the final demand (Fig. 9).

about 4-5%, and private cars are not used for many

The energy required for the final services is estimatedhours.

to be around 5% of the total primary energy consump-

However, if a fully autonomous vehicle is realized,

tion. However, the over consumption will be basicallyeven with ride sharing or car sharing, it will not impair

rational if we consider the "hidden costs" that hinder

convenience significantly and likely to be used at a low

our convenience, and the energy supplies and demands

cost because of an increase of operation rate. Ride shar-in the current society was determined with over energy

ing can directly reduce the energy consumption of au-

consumptions. Although having said that, it is being

tomobiles, and car sharing can reduce the number ofchanged along with technological progress. For exam-

automobiles, reduce the use of materials such as ironple, lighting has been practical use which turns off au-

and plastic as well as the energy consumption required

tomatically when there are no people around and air

for the manufacture. These reductions can contribute toconditioners can also cool a specific area where people

the simultaneous achievement of the SDGs. Excessive

are intensively. These technologies led to energy sav-production is being carried out not only in automobiles

ings while suppressing service degradation. On the

but also in apparel, food systems, etc., and there is aother hand, there is still a lot of waste as a social system.

possibility that these can be reduced by the progress of

The progress of information and communication

ICT. It is important to control total energy demand oftechnology (ICT) has the potential to induce social in-society by not only directly reducing energy but also re-novation on the final energy demand side and to leads

ducing the energy embodied in services and products.

to triggering: (1) from independent technology to con-On the other hand, ICT can increase energy consump-nection between technologies, (2) from possession totion in data centers and other various rebound effects,

use, and (3) inducing sharing economy and circularsoeconomy.

changes is required.

comprehensive

analysisincludingbehavioral

3.2. Overview of EDITS
Under these circumstances, the EDITS project has just28

R&D Activities ● Systems Analysis Groupstarted the following research:•

RITE Today 2021

8） O’Neill, B.C., et al., Climatic Change 122, 2014

Building a research community: Promoting better

9） Oda, J., et al, Energy Policy, 44, 2012

understanding through interaction between re-10） Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP)

search and policy analysis with sharing new data,

11） Global Energy Assessment, 2012

new concepts, methodologies, and policy analysis
focused on the demand side.
•

Improvement of state-of-the-art demand sidemodel: Further refinement of environmental and climate policy analysis by mutual comparison andsharing of methodologies and models across disciplines and environmental fields.

•

Model-to-model comparative analysis: Conduct
model analysis and simulation to assess synergies
and trade-offs, potential impacts and barriers to
SDGs from demand-side policies while particularly
focusing on digitization, sharing economy, and policy design with synergies from the integration of
SDGs and climate goals
Many domestic and foreign research institutes andresearchers will work together to tackle this importantand difficult analytical tasks.

RITE and the Institute forInternational Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) playing acentral role and collaborate with Tokyo University,
Osaka University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Stanford University, Wisconsin University,
Tsinghua University of China, and other institutes inSouth Korea, Italy, Germany, Thailand, Brazil, etc.

Reference
1） Sano, F., et al, Journal of Japan Society of Energy andResources, 42(1), 2021
2） Kanaboshi, H., et al, The 37th Conference on Energy,
Economy, and Environment, 2021
3） European Commission, The European green deal
4） Homma, T., and Akimoto, K., Energy Policy 62, 2013
5） Banks, G.D. and Fitzgerald, Climatic Change, 162, 2020
6） MIT, EPPA Model Structure7） JCER, Analysis by JCER-CGE, 2009 (in Japanese)29

R&D Activities ● Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology GroupRITE Today 2021

Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology Group
Members (As of Dec. 2020)
Masayuki Inui, Group Leader,
Chief Researcher
Haruhiko Teramoto,
Associate Chief Researcher
Kazumi Hiraga,
Associate Chief Researcher
Hajime Terasaki,
Associate Chief Researcher
Masato Miyamoto,
Associate Chief Researcher
Yuya Tanaka, Senior Researcher
Masako Suda, Senior Researcher
Yukihiro Kitade, Senior Researcher
Koichi Toyoda, Senior Researcher
Naoto Kato, Senior Researcher

Satoshi Hasegawa, Senior Researcher
Akira Watanabe, Senior Researcher
Takahisa Kogure, Senior Researcher
Takeshi Kubota, Senior Researcher
Toshihiro Oshima, Senior Researcher
Shinichi Oide, Senior Researcher
Tetsu Shimizu, Researcher
Tomoaki Hara, Researcher
Akiyoshi Higo, Researcher
Natalia Maria Theresia, Researcher
Norimasa Kashiwagi, Researcher
Jyumpei Kobayashi, Researcher
Ryoma Hashimoto, Researcher
Naoki Saruya, Researcher
Yuki Nozaki, Researcher

Junko Watanabe, Assistant Researcher
Yuko Ikenaga, Assistant Researcher
Shoko Minakuchi, Assistant Researcher
Miyuki Nagamori, Assistant Researcher
Kae Naito, Assistant Researcher
Noriko Ikeda, Assistant Researcher
Kazuyo Yoneda, Assistant Researcher
Mayu Koizumi, Assistant Researcher
Junko Nishi, Assistant Researcher
Kayoko Mori, Assistant Researcher
Motomi Iwashima,
Assistant Researcher
Kayo Yoshida, Assistant Researcher
Aya Okada, Assistant Researcher
Kimiyo Kishi, Assistant Researcher

Development of Biorefinery Technology to Realize a Sustainable
Society
1. Introduction
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic
has had a great impact on economic and social activities
worldwide. Meanwhile, environmental problems suchas global warming and marine plastic pollution remain

Agricultural
technology
Agriculture,
Forestry

are becoming more serious. Under these circumstances,the promotion of the bioeconomy is becoming increasingly important for economic recovery after the conver-

CO2 absorption

Renewable
resources,
Materials,
Biomass

RecycleCO2,
Waste

Biorefinery
Chemicals,
Medicines,
Energy, Foods

Consumption

gence of infectious diseases and for solving environmental problems.
The concept of “bio-economy,” which aims to ex-

Created by RITE based on BioVale materials

Fig. 1 Economic contribution of biotechnology

pand a sustainable, renewable and recycling-oriented
economic society while solving global issues by utilizing

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-op-

biotechnology and renewable biological resources

eration and Development (OECD), “the biotechnology（Fig.1）.

market in 2030 will expand to about 190 trillion yen in
all member countries and the manufacturing sector willreach about 40%” (Fig. 2). It is said that all of these industries are bio-based.

30

R&D Activities ● Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology Group

2030, $1.7 trillion

RITE Today 2021

bioethanol was produced in the U.S. in 2019. Similarly
the Agricultural Outlook 2020–2029 report, publishedjointly by the OECD and the Food and Agriculture Or-

Agriculture
36%

Industry
39%

Health25%

ganization, states that 129 million kL of bioethanol was
produced worldwide in 2019, with the U.S. accounting
for approximately half of this production.
Cellulose ethanol, a second-generation biofuel, is
produced from raw materials that do not compete withfood resources, such as the agricultural waste corn

Source：The Bioeconomy to 2030. OECD(2009), NEDO

Fig. 2 Economic contribution of biotechnology

stover. On the basis of Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)
rules, the Environmental Protection Agency's final volume for the production of cellulosic biofuel in 2020 was

Under such circumstances, the government formu-

590 million gallons (2.23 million kL), which was slightly

lated “Bio-Strategy 2019” in June 2019, with the overall

more than 5.6% of the RFS target set in 2007. The ac-

goal of “achieving the world's most advanced bioecon-celeration of biofuel commercialization is required inomy society in 2030.” This was to be promoted while

the future. The Research Institute of Innovative Technol-

being updated every year, and in June 2020, "Bio-Strat-

ogy for the Earth (RITE) is developing a bioprocess thategy 2020 (Basic Measures)" was announced, followed

can efficiently utilize cellulosic biomass (see Chapter 2).

by "Bio-Strategy 2020 (Final version of Market Area

With regard to aviation fuel, the International Civil

Measures)" in January 2021.

Aviation Organization decided at their 2010 General As-

Our group is promoting the development of biore-

sembly not to increase total greenhouse gas emissions

finery technology, the core of bioeconomy, by using mi-after 2020. At the 2016 General Assembly, a decision

croorganisms. Biorefinery technology is used for pro-

was made to introduce a greenhouse gas reduction sys-ducing biofuels and green chemicals, using renewable

tem using market mechanisms (GMBM: global market-

resources (biomass) as raw materials.

based measures) after 2020. On the basis of this deci-

This first section provides an overview of the current

sion, the International Air Transport Association has for-status of biofuel and bioplastic (a substitute for general-mulated a concrete action plan, including the uses of

purpose plastics) research and development (R&D).

bio-jet fuel and emissions trading (Fig. 3). The GMBM
are expected to be launched in 2021. Along with these,

1.1. Biofuels

bio-jet fuel has been widely spread mainly in Europe

Bioethanol, a major biofuel, is produced from raw

and the U.S. every year, and commercial flight has beenmaterials such as corn (in the U.S.) and sugarcane (incontinued as a sustainable aviation fuel using cooking

Brazil). It is mixed with 10%–25% gasoline for use in au-

waste oil and the like.

tomobile engines. The highest production and con-

Our group is also conducting R&D on biofuels. In a

sumption of bioethanol occurs in the United States

project sponsored by Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. (JAL), we(U.S.) where corn is a major crop. According to esti-

have succeeded in producing domestic bio-jet fuel formates provided by the U.S. Energy Information Admin-the first time in Japan, and this bio-jet fuel was refueled

istration, 15.8 billion gallons (59.81 million kL) of

on a regular domestic flight (see Section 4.1).

31

R&D Activities ● Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology GroupRITE Today 2021

We are also conducting R&D on a green jet fuel that

Ocean from Non-food Biomasses) of the New Energy

can be used as is, that is, without limitation of mixing

and Industrial Technology Development Organization

ratio to petroleum fuels.

(NEDO). Participation in the project “Production of Biomonomers from Non-food Biomass and Development

CO2 emissions
from aviation
(Mt)
3500

Predicting CO2 emissions
from aviation
Improvementof tech, ops,
infra

3000
2500

No action

1800 Mt

2000
1500

Biofuels &add. tech

1000

Carbonoffsetting

500
002000 2005 2010

2020

2030

Ref.） ICAO Environmental Report 2016

800 Mt
300 Mt

2040

2050＜ICAO’s prediction＞
Minimum carbon
emissions in 2050

＜ICAO’s target＞
Carbon neutral
Growth from 2020
＜IATA’s target＞
Net reduction incarbon emissions of
50% by 2050
compared to 2005

ICAO: International Civil Aviation Organization
IATA : International Air Transport Association

Fig. 3 Emissions reduction roadmapof Polymer-degrading Enzymes” will be undertaken.

2. Core technology of our group
Our group has established an innovative bioprocess
on the basis of a new technological concept. This trademark, registered RITE Bioprocess®, has achieved great
results in the development of technologies for producing green chemicals (e.g., biofuels, amino acids, and aromatic compounds), exhibiting high efficiency. Further-

With regard to marine fuels, Japan's International
Shipping Greenhouse Gas Zero Emission Project, estab-more, it has received high praise both in Japan andabroad (Fig. 4).

lished in collaboration with the Japan Ship Technology
Research Association, aims for a zero emissions target
by 2050 through the promotion of technological inno-

Non-food
biomass

Metabolicengineering etc.

generation like biohydrogen. The Project has developed

emissions.

Biofuels
Green chemicals

Pretreatment
Saccharification

vations, such as alternative low-carbon fuels of the next

a roadmap toward accelerating efforts to achieving zero

RITE Bioprocess®
(Growth-arrested bioprocess)

Recovery&
Purification

O

OH

OH
OH

Smart cells(Coryneform bacteria)

O

OH

HO

NH2

Production proceeds without cell growth・Simultaneous utilization of mixed sugar
・Tolerance to growth inhibitors
・High productivity

Fig. 4 Biorefinery concept using the RITE Bioprocess®

1.2. Bioplastic
Efforts to reduce greenhouse gases by spreading
and generalizing the use of plastics that do not depend

2.1. Features of the RITE Bioprocess®
2.1.1. Feature ①: Growth-independent bioprocess

on fossil resources have stagnated, and the environ-

The RITE Bioprocess® involves cultivating a large

mental pollution caused by marine plastic wastes has

amount of coryneform bacteria (smart cells) that arebecome a serious global issue. Against this background,metabolically designed to produce the target substancethere are great expectations from bioplastics and bio-

efficiently; filling a reaction tank with a high density of

degradable plastics made from biomass, which is a re-these cells; and finally, creating anaerobic conditions.

newable resource.

Alternatively, the reaction is performed in a state where“Bio-Strategy 2020” places great importance on theimmediate and continuous promotion of bioplastics (acell division is stopped by removing the factors essential for cell proliferation (Fig. 5).

general-purpose plastic alternative), which is one of thenine market areas shown in “Bio-Strategy 2019.”
Our group is involved in the Moonshot R&D project(Development of Multi-lock Biopolymers Degradable in32

R&D Activities ● Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology Grouplevel as that of C6 sugar (see the graph on the right side

RITE Bioprocess®
High-density packing of microbial cells
C5, C6 sugars
Complete simultaneous
utilization of mix sugars

High resistance tofermentation inhibitors

RITE Today 2021

Patent:JP4712716
JP3869788 US8604180
JP4451393 DE602004026192.0
US7368268 FR1647594
EP1647594 JP4927297
US7598063
JP4294373

Growth-arrested bioprocess
Biofuels
Biochemicals ■ High yield and high productivity■ Simple system

of Fig. 6).
As a result, C5 and C6 saccharides can be used at thesame time (simultaneous utilization of mixed sugars),and cellulosic raw materials can be used efficiently.

Conventional bioprocess
Production is accompanied by microbial growth

growthImprovement of simultaneous
utilization of C6 & C5 sugars by introducing
pentose transporter gene（araE）

Growth-nonarrested bioprocess■Cell-growth-dependent productivity■Carbon loss by cell growth(Growth-independent bioprocess)The key to high efficiency is to produce compounds
in a state in which the growth of the microorganisms is
suppressed (i.e., a growth-independent bioprocess)Concentration of sugars (mM)

Fig. 5 Features of the RITE Bioprocess® ①

thereby eliminating the need for nutrients or energy to

200

200

glucosexylosearabinose

150

100

100

50

50

0

0

2

4

6

8

10

Time(h)glucosexylosearabinose

150

12

0

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Time(h)RITE’s report: Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 85:105-115. 2009.

achieve microbial growth. As a result, it is possible touse microbial cells extremely efficiently. The RITE Bio-

Fig. 6 Features of the RITE Bioprocess® ②

process® has succeeded in realizing a bioprocess with

(Simultaneous utilization of mixed sugars)

high productivity equal to or higher than that of a normal chemical process.

2.1.3. Feature ③: High tolerance to fermentation inhibitors

2.1.2. Feature ②: Simultaneous utilization of mixed
sugarsFermentation inhibitors (phenols, furans, etc.) thatare formed during the pretreatment of lignocellulosic

A cellulosic biomass consists of mixtures of hemicel-

biomass are known to exhibit strong inhibitory activity

lulose-derived pentoses (C5) and hexoses (C6). The sim-in the bioethanol production process. Therefore, in or-

ultaneous utilization of both pentoses and hexoses is

der to be able to produce the target substance effi-

essential for microbial biofuel production.

ciently, an increase in the tolerance of microorganisms

However, wild coryneform bacteria use xylose (C5sugar) and arabinose (C5 sugar) at a slower rate than(bacteria) to the fermentation inhibitors is indispensable.

they do glucose (C6 sugar) (see the graph on the left

The coryneform bacterium developed by our groupside of Fig. 6). When raw materials are continuously

has been demonstrated to have high tolerance to fer-added, the C5 sugars accumulate, and their production

mentation inhibitors rendered through the introduction

efficiency eventually decreases.

of several genes (Fig. 7).

Our group has succeeded in improving the metabolic system of coryneform bacteria by introducing into
them several genes involved in the utilization of C5
sugar thereby increasing its utilization rate to the same33

R&D Activities ● Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology Group3. Next core technology

Comparison of resistance tofermentation inhibitors

Relative ethanol
productivity（%）

4-HB

NEDO launched the project “Development of Pro-

100

80

duction Techniques for Highly Functional Biomaterials

80

O

60

O

40

20

Using Smart Cells of Plants and Other Organisms”

60

40

0

3.1. NEDO Smart Cell ProjectFurfural100

CHO(Smart Cell Project) in 2016. Our group has participated

20

OH

0

RITE Today 2021

60

in this project since its inception. Members of the pro-

●RITE Bioprocess ■Zymomonas mobilis ▲Saccharomyces cerevisiae

ject develop technologies for designing the Smart Cell

RITE’s report: Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73:2349-2353. 2007.

(defined as a finely designed and expression-controlled

0

5

10

15

Concentration (mM)

20

0

20

40

Concentration (mM)

Fig. 7 Features of the RITE Bioprocess® ③(High tolerance to fermentation inhibitors)cell) and validate these Smart Cell design systems.
We have selected catechol as our target compoundin the project. Catechol has not been produced in high2.2. Examples of substances produced by the RITE Bio-concentration by fermentation until now, even thoughprocess®

it is in high demand in various industrial fields. It is pre-Currently, in addition to the highly efficient produc-

sumed that the reasons are its high toxicity to microor-tion of various substances, such as ethanol, L-lactic acid,ganisms and the high complexity of the metabolic path-D-lactic acid, and amino acids, we are expanding ourways from glucose to catechol. Furthermore, wild-typebusiness to the production of high-performance chem-

Corynebacterium glutamicum does not have its own

icals, such as butanol, jet fuel materials, and aromatic

genes for catechol production. To solve these problems,compounds (Fig. 8).

we applied the Smart Cell design systems to create a C.

Biofuels
Gasoline additives★ Ethanol *Bio-jet fuels★ Isobutanol *☆ n-butanol *★ C9~C15Saturatedhydrocarbon+ Aromatics★ Biohydrogen

Green chemicals
Aromatics★ Shikimic acid (Anti-influenza drug; Tamiflu raw materials)★ Phenol * (Phenolic resins, Polycarbonates)★ 4-hydroxybenzoic acid * (Polymer raw materials)★ Aniline * (Natural resource tire (Age resistor))★ 4-aminobenzoic acid * (Pharmaceutical raw materials)★ Protocatechuic acid * (Cosmetic raw materials)
Organic acids★ D-lactate *, L-lactate * (Stereo-complex PLA)
☆ Succinate *Amino acids★ Alanine (Chelators)★ Valine (Next-generation feed-use amino acids)☆ Tryptophan (Next-generation feed-use amino acids)☆ Methionine (Feed-use amino acids, Seasoning)
Alcohols☆ Isopropanol (Propylene raw materials)★ Xylitol (Sweetener)*：Polymer raw materials★ Red character：World’s highest productivity achieved

glutamicum catechol overproducer in a short period oftime.
In collaboration with universities, research institutes,
and one company, which all have their own original
Smart Cell design systems, several genetic modification
points were proposed for improving catechol productivity. The proposals were integrated into a C. glutamicum strain to realize its high catechol-producing potential. As a result, the concentrations of catechol were

Fig. 8 Examples of substances produced by

gradually increased in stages, and the final strain

the RITE Bioprocess®

achieved a very high production concentration, far exceeding the highest reported worldwide (Fig. 9).

In the following sections, we describe the efforts inThis fiscal year (FY 2020) is the final year of the pro-the national projects in which our group is participating,

ject, and we have already achieved productivity that ex-

the development of production technology for green

ceeds its target value of the project. Continued efforts

chemicals containing biofuels and aromatic compounds,

towards development for practical use is being under-

which are the main targets, and introduce the efforts fortaken, which will contribute to the realization of a new

their practical application.

bio-based industry, the Smart Cell industry.

34

R&D Activities ● Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology Group

Smart Cell design system andMetabolic pathways of C. glutamicum
Fundamental
technology

Fundamental
technology

Smart Cell
Design System

x500
x380 x400x1600

Condition
optimization

Fundamental
technology

x320

Production
・
Productization

Catechol

Fundamental
technology
Fundamental
technology

Catecholproduction

Industrial Smart Cell
creation technology
Solving problems associated withcommercialization

Fundamental
technology

GlucoseGlucoseRITE Today 2021

Industrial
Smart Cell

Smart Cell

Carbonrecyclingsociety
Sustainableeconomic
growthRange of the projectx1

Application of
fundamental
technologies

Fig. 10 Development of bio-derived material

Fig. 9 Development of catechol production by applying

production technologies

Smart Cell design systems

4. Development of target products
3.2. NEDO Carbon Recycle Project
NEDO has launched a new project, “Development of

4.1. Biofuel production research and development
4.1.1 Biobutanol

Bio-derived Material Production Technologies that Ac-

Butanol is more suitable as a gasoline additive thancelerate the Realization of Carbon Recycling.” In the on-

ethanol owing to its better physicochemical properties,

going Smart Cell Project (from 2016 to 2020), Smart Cell

including higher energy content, lower vapor pressure,design systems have been developed to create smart

and lower water solubility. It can also be used as thecells. On the basis of this achievement, the developmentbase material for the production of bio-jet fuel usingof industrial material production technology using bio-

conventional chemical reactions. The bio-jet fuel syn-logical functions is being carried out in the new project.

thesized from biobutanol can be used in airplanes. Air-The aim is to accelerate the social implementation oflines and aircraft manufacturers have paid great atten-

bio-derived products by developing technologies re-tion to the importance of bio-jet fuel, which has been

lated to production processes for industrialization, in-recognized as being critical for reducing CO2 emissions

cluding bioreactor scale-up and refining processes (Fig.

because it uses plant-based materials as feedstock in-

10).

stead of petroleum. The bio-jet fuel synthesized from

Our group participated in this project with the goals

butanol is often referred to as “alcohol-to-jet” (ATJ) fuelof identifying problems associated with the practicaland has been approved by the American Society for

application of microbial fermentation and contributing

Testing and Materials (ASTM) and is ready for use into the development of "Industrial Smart Cell creationcommercial aircraft.

technology" to solve the problems. Furthermore, we se-

We have developed a genetically engineered C. glu-

lected terpenoids as our target chemical compounds

tamicum strain that is highly efficient in producing bio-and started developing industrially applicable overpro-butanol. Furthermore, we had conducted a research

ducers.

project from 2015 to 2019 to investigate cellulosic butanol production (see Topics in RITE Today, 2016). The
project was funded by the Ministry of Economy, Tradeand Industry. The advantages of our production process
are as follows: (i) cellulosic biomass-derived mixed35

R&D Activities ● Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology GroupRITE Today 2021

sugars can be used as feedstock, and (ii) production istolerance and optimizing the metabolic pathway of thefast and generates a high product yield (Fig. 11).

producing bacterial strain, and developing an energy-

Because butanol is highly toxic, we have developedsaving butanol recovery technology.

a genetically engineered Corynebacterium strain that

Meanwhile, as an initiative for commercialization,

has high tolerance to its toxicity. The strain has further

RITE provided technical cooperation in the “Let's Fly byenhanced the high productivity of the RITE Biopro-

Recycling 100,000 Clothes!” project (2018–2020) spon-cess®. Through collaboration with the U.S. National Re-

sored by JAL. This project aimed to manufacture bio-jet

newable Energy Laboratory, we have accelerated thefuel from used clothes collected in cooperation with JAL

R&D of biobutanol production from non-food biomass.

and JEPLAN, Inc.
Green Earth Institute Co., Ltd. (GEI), a venture com-

RITE
RITE‐NREL

Bio-butanol-producing bacteriawith high yield

Mixed sugar
NREL
Pretreatedbiomass

Utilization ofunused acetate

RITE Bioprocess®
RITE‐PNNL

Drop-in fuels (motor fuel, jet fuel)Chemicaloligomerization

Concentration andpurification of biobutanol by
combination of PV
membrane anddistillation

Bio-butanolpany originating from RITE, also participated in this project, and isobutanol was produced by the RITE Bioprocess® using coryneform bacteria developed by RITE. In
2020, the bio-jet fuel produced from this isobutanol
passed the international standard ASTM D7566 Annex5
Neat for the first time as a purely domestic bio-jet fuel.

Fig. 11 Production of biobutanol and bio-jet fuel using

On February 4, 2021, it was used as the first domesticallythe RITE Bioprocess®

produced bio-jet fuel on a JAL commercial flight, JL319,
from Tokyo Haneda to Fukuoka Airport.

Since 2017, we have also collaborated with the U.S.

In the future, by combining these elemental tech-

Pacific Northwest National Laboratories in researching

nologies and a variety of procedural knowledge, we aim

and developing the production of jet fuels by the chem-

to produce jet fuel from biobutanol and put it into ap-

ical oligomerization of biobutanol. This was based on aplication and commercialization.

new idea that if acetic acid is included in mixed sugars
from a pretreated biomass, it can be converted to eth-

4.1.2. Green jet fuelanol by an engineered C. glutamicum strain into which

Petroleum-based jet fuels are mixtures of hydrocar-

new genes have been introduced. Therefore, the mix-bons that consist of n-paraffins, isoparaffins, cyclopar-tures are utilized for the bioproduction of butanol andaffins, and aromatic compounds with 9–15 carbon at-

ethanol, which can then be subjected to chemical oli-oms. Any jet fuel must meet strict standards with regard

gomerization for use as jet fuels.

to its physical properties, such as a specified freezing

The distillation of a biobutanol solution requires apoint and density.

large amount of energy. To reduce the amount of en-

So far, ASTM International has approved six produc-

ergy needed, we developed an energy-saving biobuta-tion pathways for bio-jet fuels, such as the production

nol recovery process using a combination of distillationof HEFA fuel by the hydroprocessing of fatty acid esters,

and pervaporation. This resulted in energy savings of up

FT-SPK fuel by the Fischer–Tropsch synthesis of hydro-

to 90% and the achievement of the highest biobutanol

carbons from syngas, and ATJ fuel by the oligomeriza-

productivity in the world. The project successfullytion of alcohol. In 2020, ATJ fuel coupled with our bio-

achieved the original goals of improving the butanol

butanol production technology was approved. However,36

R&D Activities ● Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology GroupRITE Today 2021

these certified bio-jet fuels consist mostly of isoparaf-

Ministerial Council on Renewable Energy, Hydrogen

fins and are lacking in other essential components: cy-

and Related Issues in 2017 states the importance of the

cloparaffins and aromatics. They do not meet ASTM

development of innovative CO2-free hydrogen produc-standards on their own and are required to be blended

tion technologies to realize a hydrogen society over thewith petroleum-based jet fuel so as to be 50% or less inmedium to long term. The aim is to achieve this by 2050,

total when used. Therefore, even when the production

based on the goals set to develop commercial-scale hy-

capacity of bio-jet fuels catches up with demands, moredrogen supply chains by circa 2030.

than 50% of fuel demands will still be occupied by petroleum-based jet fuel.

Although bioprocesses have significant potential for
CO2-free hydrogen production, innovative improve-

To overcome this blending ratio limitation of thements in technology are necessary to establish a cost-certified bio-jet fuels, we are additionally developing aeffective process for producing biohydrogen. In collab-

high-performance green jet fuel that contains cyclopar-

oration with the Sharp Corporation, our group has de-affins and aromatics in addition to isoparaffins. The

veloped a biohydrogen production process. The hydro-

novel jet fuel meets ASTM standards and is expected togen production rate achieved by our process is two or-

be used alone. In the R&D of the high-performance bio-ders of magnitude higher than that of conventional fer-

jet fuel, we have achieved some promising results, suchmentation processes. On the basis of this achievement,

as a novel biocatalyst that enables the cross-coupling

our group is now working on the metabolic engineering

reactions between C2 and C8 compounds for the syn-of hydrogen-producing microorganisms to improve hy-

thesis of C9–C15 branched and cyclic compounds,

drogen yields from cellulosic biomass.

which can then be chemically converted to jet fuel components.

Photosynthetic bacteria produce hydrogen gas (H2)using nitrogenase (a nitrogen-fixing enzyme) and the
reducing power generated from the degradation of or-

Bio-jet fuelscertified by ASTM international
HCJ
HEFA
SIP
FT-SPK(A) ATJ

Isoparaffins
Need to be blended
with petroleum-based jet fuelA novel high-performancegreen jet fuelIsoparaffins＋
Cycloparaffins
Aromatics
Expected to be used alone

ganic compounds (Fig. 13). Although H2 is a byproductof the nitrogenase reaction that generates ammonia(NH3) from nitrogen gas (N2), only H2 is produced by the
reduction of H+ in the absence of N2. This photofermentative process can produce hydrogen from acetate(a thermodynamically unfavorable reaction) using light

Fig. 12 Research and development of a novel high-energy. Thus, a major improvement in hydrogen yield isperformance bio-jet fuelexpected by integrating this process with the dark fermentative process of hydrogen production, which pro-

4.1.3. Biohydrogenduces acetate as a byproduct. However, in photosyn-

Hydrogen, the combustion of which generates only

thetic bacteria, reducing power is consumed by CO2 fix-

water, is considered the ultimate clean energy source.

ation and polymer synthesis for carbon storage, thereby

However, CO2 emissions during the hydrogen produc-

limiting its use for hydrogen production. Moreover, hy-tion processes currently in use are a problematic issue,

drogen is reused by uptake hydrogenase for providing

because fossil resources are used as the feedstock. The

cells with reducing power. On the basis of these findings,

Basic Hydrogen Strategy drawn up at a meeting of thethemetabolicengineering

of

H/C/N

metabolic37

R&D Activities ● Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology GroupRITE Today 2021

pathways has resulted in a marked increase in the hy-of the RITE Bioprocess®. In 2011, RITE and GEI began

drogen yield from acetate.

collaborative research on amino acid production using
the RITE Bioprocess® and developed technologies for

Acetatescaling up production, growing efficient production

Light energy
Photosynthesis

Organic
compounddegradation

ATPe-Hydrogenase
Nitrogenase

H2 uptakeN2 fixation(H2 production)

Photosynthetic
bacteria
CO2 fixation
Microbial
growthCarbon storage
substance(polymer)synthesis

H2
N2 + 8H+ + 8e- + 16ATP → 2NH3 + H2 + 16ADP + 16Pi
※ in the absence of N2：
2H+ + 2e- + 4ATP → H2 + 4ADP + 4Pi

strains, and reducing production costs. In 2019, RITE
succeeded in producing a strain that yielded the world's
highest production concentration of L-valine with thebest production efficiency. Furthermore, RITE has completed commercialization projects with GEI and overseas partners to achieve the commercial production ofthese amino acids. Our goal was to produce this aminoacid from renewable resources thereby reducing the life
cycle carbon footprint.
In 2016, we succeeded in demonstrating the feasibility of L-alanine production technique by using the

Fig. 13 Competition with H2 production (N2 fixation) for

commercial-scale facilities of our partner company,

reducing power (e−) in photosynthetic bacteria

which was an important milestone for its industrialization. One of our group members also participated in the

4.2. Amino acids (alanine and valine)

first operation and worked with local employees to lead

Normally, amino acid fermentation is carried out un-

the project to a successful conclusion. As the result ofder aerobic conditions, where high productivity requires

an evaluation by the Food Safety Committee in August

the aeration and agitation of the system to be properly

2017, the safety of the L-alanine produced by our strain

controlled. However, this is often difficult to achieve infor use as a food additive was confirmed, allowing it tolarge-scale fermenters because their internal oxygen

be made commercially available for this purpose be-concentration is not homogeneous. To overcome thissides its use for industrial applications. We are now

problem, we have developed a new, genetically modi-

working on a joint research project for the production

fied Corynebacterium strain with the RITE Bioprocess®

of other amino acids.

that allows the production of amino acids to be carriedout under anaerobic conditions. The technological hur-4.3. Green-aromatic compounds

dle for amino acid production under anaerobic condi-

Aromatic compounds are important industrial

tions is to balance the redox reaction without oxygen as

chemicals used for the synthesis of polymers as well as

an electron acceptor. To this end, we successfully intro-

a diverse group of value-added chemicals that are ap-

duced an artificial pathway for amino acid biosynthesis

plied in the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, flavor, cos-

into the microbial cells thereby solving the technologi-

metic, and food industries. Although they are currently

cal hurdle. Our group published this accomplishment inderived from petroleum or natural plant resources, theiran international journal in 2010 (Appl. Microbiol. Bio-environmentally friendly biotechnological production

technol. 87: 159–165).

from renewable feedstocks is desirable from the view-

GEI was established in 2011 for the industrialization

point of creating a sustainable society that is no longer

38

R&D Activities ● Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology Groupdependent on petroleum resources and has efficient

RITE Today 2021

4.4. Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP)

production processes. Bacterial cells synthesize various

The cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promo-

aromatic compounds, including amino acids (phenylal-tion Program seeks to promote R&D, from the basic re-anine, tyrosine, and tryptophan), folate (vitamin B9), andsearch stage to the final outcome, in a seamless mannercoenzyme Q, all of which are derived from the shikimate

by endeavoring to strengthen cooperation among in-pathway (Fig. 14). By employing the metabolically engi-

dustries, academia, and governments beyond theneered C. glutamicum, we have successfully establishedframework of government ministries and traditionala highly efficient bioprocess for producing the following

disciplines. The theme “Technologies for Smart Bio-in-

aromatic compounds from non-food feedstocks: shiki-

dustry and Agriculture”, one of the 12 themes in the SIP

mate, a key building block of the anti-influenza drug

at Second Phase, aims to realize a sustainable growing

Tamiflu; 4-aminobenzoate, which is used as a building

society that uses manufacturing technologies devel-

block of a potentially useful functional polymer; and ar-oped through the integration of biotechnology andomatic hydroxy acids, which have potential applications

digital resources.

in the polymer, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and adhesive

RITE is participating in “Development of Technolo-

material industries. Currently, we are seeking to develop

gies for Functional Design and Production of Innovative

new strains for the production of useful aromatic com-

Biomaterials (Fig. 15),” a consortium comprising thepounds that the wild-type C. glutamicum is unable totheme. This consortium consists of two groups: the pol-produce. This will be achieved by introducing genes de-ymer group for designing polymers with marketable

rived from versatile biological resources into the bacte-

properties and predicting the function of polymers con-rium. The techniques developed in the Smart Cell Pro-

sisting of particular monomers; and the monomer

ject, as described earlier, will help to accelerate the de-group for selecting biosynthesizable monomers andvelopment of strains and improve their productivity.

designing biosynthetic pathways and enzymes for themonomers required for polymer synthesis. As a leader

CH2OH

HOH2C

O

Glucose

OH
OH
OH

HO

PTS

PEP

OH

O
OH
OH

XyloseArabinose

Pentosetransporter

PYR
XyloseNADP+ NADPH

EM pathway

Pentose phosphatepathway

G-6-P
F-6-P

6-PGlucono-lactone

GAP

DHAP

NAD+

6-PGluconate

Rib5P

PGP

PYR

：Target products

PEP

Xylulose

Ribulose

xylB

araB

Ribu5P

Quinate

araD
Xlu5P

GAP

Sed-7-P

F-6-P
F-6-P
GAP

Ery-4-P

Shikimate DHS
pathway

ShikimateTyr-derivatives

Trp-derivatives

Trp

ANT

Chorismate

Tyr

PPY

Phe

Phe-derivatives

4-HBA

Phenol4-ABA

didates and enzyme modifications that are predicted tobe required for the synthesis of target monomers by bioinformatics teams in the group. The enzymes involvedin the synthesis of an aromatic diol and a precursor ofProtocatechuateand derivatives

DHQof the monomer group, RITE is evaluating enzyme can-Ribulose-5P

NADPH

DAHP

Pyruvate：Intermediate metabolite

araA

CO2

GAPDH

NADH

OH

OH

Arabinose

xylA

NADP+

F-1,6-P2

O
OH

HOH2C

Phenolan aromatic diamine are current targets to be modified.
Thus far, the predicted modification of amino acid sequences has successfully improved the activity of the
enzymes and altered their substrate specificity. We are
improving the accuracy of the technologies by evaluat-

Chorismate-derivatives

ing more enzymes.

Fig. 14 Biosynthetic pathway for various
aromatic compounds

39

R&D Activities ● Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology GroupHigh heatresistant／high stiffnesspolymers
Rubbers andelastomers
Biodegradable
polymers

RITE Today 2021

In this project, RITE will promote the production of

Input

biomonomers and the development of polymer-deOutput

Highly functional
polymers

OutputBiosynthesizable
polymers

OutputMetabolic pathway・
improved enzymes

Input

grading enzymes from non-food biomasses. Specifically,(1) in order to establish a bioprocess that enables thehigh production of biomonomers, which are the raw

Targetpolymerproperties

materials for multi-lock biopolymers, RITE will promote
Designing of highly
functional polymers・
biomonomers

Efficient production of
biomonomers

the construction of a high biomonomer-producing
strain and the development of scale-up production

Fig. 15 Integrated design and production technology

technology. Additionally, (2) for the practical use of

system for biomaterials

multi-lock biopolymers, we will promote the development of highly functionalized polymer-degrading en-

4.5. NEDO Moonshot-type R&D Project: Development

zymes for efficient enzymatic degradation in the multi-of Multi-lock Biopolymers Degradable in Ocean fromlock mechanism and of high production technologies

Non-food Biomasses

for these enzymes.

This project aims to develop a “multi-lock-type biopolymer” that is as tough as conventional petroleum-

5. Toward the industrialization of our technologies

derived polymers when in use but can be rapidly de-

5.1. Green Chemicals Co., Ltd.

graded by external stimuli in the marine environment(Head Office ・ Laboratory: in Kyoto headquarters,

after its use (Fig. 16). We aim to simultaneously solve

RITE; Shizuoka Laboratory: in Shizuoka plant, Sumitomo

the problems of global warming and environmental

Bakelite Co., Ltd.)

pollution in the field of polymers. Generally, there is a

Currently, commercial phenol can only be derived

trade-off between plastic toughness and marine degra-

from petroleum. We have taken on the challenge of de-dability (biodegradability), but this project aims toveloping the world's first biomanufacturing process forachieve both.

biomass-derived phenol, with the ultimate goal being
to aid global environmental conservation and greenhouse gas reduction.
In May 2014, Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd., and RITE
established Green Phenol Development Co., Ltd. (GPD),
to accelerate the industrialization of our biomass-derived phenol-producing technology, named the “TwoStage Bioprocess.” In April 2018, GPD changed its nameto Green Chemicals Co., Ltd. (GCC).
Because GCC’s phenol-producing technology andknowledge are applicable to the production of various

Fig. 16 Research and development of marine-degradable

other aromatic compounds, the establishment of a bio-

multi-lock biopolymers made from non-food biomass

process for each higher value-added chemical and thecommercialization of products that meet customer

https://www.nedo.go.jp/english/news/ZZCA_100007.html

needs are in progress (see Section 4.3).

40

R&D Activities ● Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology GroupThe present product lineup of GCC is shown in Fig.
17. In 2020, using the pilot-scale facilities of GCC, we

RITE Today 2021

and Welfare, paving the way for its use in the food industry.

succeeded in demonstrating the high-concentration

With regard to bio-jet fuels made from non-food bi-

production of two target compounds, protocatechuic

omass, which are highly expected to reduce CO 2 emis-acid and shikimic acid, which was an important mile-sions from aircraft, GEI is continuously conducting jointstone for industrialization.

research with RITE in this area and is working towardcommercialization (see Section 4.1).

Product lineup
PhenolProtocatechuic Shikimic
acid
acid
O

O

OH

OH

4-HBA
O

OH

OH

cosmetic materials) in cooperation with RITE, and themarketing for commercialization and the scaling up for

OH
OH

Additionally, GEI is developing green chemicals (e.g.,

HO

OH

OH

OH

mass production are under way.
As a venture company that realizes the commercialization of RITE-originated technology and by contributing to the development of the biorefinery industry,
GEI will continue toward the realization of a society thatFig.17 Product lineup of Green Chemicals Co., Ltd.

5.2. Green Earth Institute Co., Ltd.
(Headquarters: Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan; ResearchInstitute: Kazusa, Kisarazu City, Chiba, Japan)
GEI is a RITE-launched venture company that wasestablished on September 01, 2011, to facilitate thedoes not rely on fossil resources.

6. Closing remarks
As mentioned earlier, in anticipation of a rapid economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided, the promotion of the bioeconomy is expected to
become increasingly important in the future.

quick commercialization of the research results of theUnder such circumstances, in recent years, the un-

aforementioned innovative RITE Bioprocess®. GEI isderstanding of life phenomena by the "data-driven" ap-

conducting both joint research and activities aimed at

proach of discovering the law from a large amount ofcommercialization with RITE in order to realize the prac-life information has been progressing.

tical uses of the green chemicals and biofuel production

Against this background, research on the biology oftechnologies produced using the microorganisms

synthesis (fusion of bio and digital processes) that ac-(coryneform bacteria) generated in the RITE Biopro-

cumulates data and understands biological functions bycess®.

repeating the cycle of design (Design), build (Build),

With regard to amino acids, as mentioned earlier,evaluation (Test), and learning (Learn) (i.e., the DBTL cy-

GEI has succeeded in producing L-alanine and L-valinecle) is developing rapidly. Our group also participateson a commercial scale using the production strain de-in multiple national projects (see Section 3).

veloped by RITE. Currently, commercial production is

In these projects, the biorefinery technology based

being realized through license agreements with domes-on the Smart Cell described earlier is expected to play a

tic and overseas partner companies (see Section 4.1).

major role as a core technology and have a large ripple

Additionally, the safety of L-alanine as a food additiveeffect on the industrial (manufacturing) and energy

has been confirmed by the Ministry of Health, Labour

fields (Fig. 18).

41

R&D Activities ● Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology Group

Biologicalinformation
DNA
RNA
Protein
Metabolites
etc.

Advanced AI・
IT technology
Deep learning
Machine learning
Evolutionary
engineering
Simulation etc.

Smart Cell
Finely-designed andexpression-controlled cell

Design of biological function
Design

Build

Learn

Test

RITE Today 2021

Advanced biotechnology
Genome editing
High speed DNA sequencing
Metabolic control
Culture, breeding technology etc.

Control of functional expression

New industry creation”Smart Cell” Industry
Industry & energy production based on “smart-cell”

Industry

EnergyRenewable resource/energy saving

Non-fossil resources

Green chemicals
bioplastics
BiofiberEngineering plastics
Medicine, intermediateof medicine etc.

Biofuelsbioethanol
biojet fuels
biodieselbiogas etc.

Source: International trends for realization of Bioeconomy & efforts being by Japan (METI）25 Sept. 2018

Fig. 18 Fusion of industrial/energy fields changed by bio
and digital processes

In 2021, we will continue to develop innovative biorefinery production technologies centered on the cutting-edge biotechnology of the Smart Cell and contribute to the construction of a sustainable low-carbon society.
※ RITE Bioprocess® is a registered trademark of RITE.

42

R&D Activities ● Chemical Research GroupRITE Today 2021

Chemical Research Group
Members (as of Dec. 2020)
Shin-Ichi Nakao, Group Leader, Chief Researcher
Toshiyuki Hasegawa, Deputy Group Leader, Chief Researcher
Katsunori Yogo, Associate Chief Researcher
Koji Baba, Associate Chief Researcher
Kazuya Goto, Senior Researcher
Teruhiko Kai, Senior Researcher
Hidetaka Yamada, Senior Researcher
Firoz Alam Chowdhury, Senior Researcher
Makoto Ryoji, Senior Researcher
Shuhong Duan, Researcher
Fujinori Ito, Researcher
Tomohiro Kinoshita, Researcher
Takayasu Kiyokawa, Researcher
VU Thi Quyen, Researcher
Nobuhiko Fuchigami, Researcher

Hanako Araki, Research AssistantKeiko Komono, Research Assistant
Ryuichi Shirai, Research AssistantKozue Kataoka, Research Assistant
Rie Sugimoto, Research AssistantJunko Yonezawa, Research AssistantMisato Mori, Research AssistantNaomi Yoshino, Research Assistant
Noriko Onishi, Research Assistant
Mai Kashima, Research AssistantKeiko Mori, Research AssistantYoichi Fujiwara, Research AssistantTakashi Teshima, Research AssistantHidenori Ogata, Research Assistant
Kumiko Ogura, Research Assistant

Challenges Associated with the Advanced Industrialization of CO2
Capture Technologies
1. Technologies for CO2 capture

separation and capture technologies for various CO 2

In December 2015, the Paris Agreement was adopted

emission sources. Recently, in a policy statement

at COP21.* To meet the conditions of the agreement, it

speech of the 203rd extraordinary session of the Diet inis essential to promote innovative ways to dramatically

October 2020, Prime Minister Suga said, "Eliminate

reduce emissions on a worldwide basis. In June 2019,

greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. In otherJapan released a long-term strategy as the growth strat-

words, we aim to realize a carbon neutral, decarbonized

egy based on the Paris Agreement and the Integrated

society by 2050." Negative emission technology is re-Innovation Strategy 2019, where it has been shown thatquired to achieve carbon neutral, and direct air capture

the carbon capture, utilization and storage and carbon(DAC) of CO2 from the atmosphere, which has been at-

recycling (CCUS/carbon recycling) process is an im-

tracting attention recently, is particularly important.

portant innovative technology that enables carbon neu-

Against this background, it is necessary to promotetrality in the world. In CCUS/carbon recycling, the com-the practical application of CCUS by proposing optimal

bination of the reuse of separated and recovered CO2

separation and capture technologies for the various CO2from fossil fuels and materials by treating CO 2 as a car-emission sources. In particular, in order to introduce

bon resource (CCU) and the storage of separated andand put into practical use CCS, which is expected to re-recovered CO2 underground (CCS) is expected to haveduce CO2 on a large scale as a measure to addressa significant CO2 reduction effect. Furthermore, it has

global warming, it is estimated that it will account forbeen shown that CO2 separation and capture technolo-

about 60% of the cost. CO2 separation and recovery

gies are the basis for CCUS, and the targets for the tech-from emission sources as a means of cost reduction are

nologies are to reduce the cost of CO2 separation andimportant.

capture to 1,000 yen/t-CO2 by 2050 and to establish CO2

The Chemical Research Group studied the different

43

R&D Activities ● Chemical Research GroupRITE Today 2021

CO2 capture technologies with a special focus on chem-

RITE joined the International Test Center Network

ical absorption, adsorption, and membrane separation(ITCN) and now actively uses overseas networks to-methods. This work involved the development of newwards the commercialization of CO2 separation and re-materials and processing methods, as well as investiga-

covery technology.

tions of capture systems. The Group’s studies have thus

*COP21: 2015 United Nations Climate Change Confer-

far generated significant outcomes and assisted in theence

progress of research in this particular field.
Specifically, we developed high performance chemi-

2. Chemical absorption method for CO2 capture

cal absorbents, and chemical absorbents with particular

In the absorption method, CO2 is separated by usingpromise was selected for application in a commercial

the selective dissolution of CO2 from a mixed gas into a

CO2 capture plant owned by a private Japanese com-solvent. In particular, the chemical absorption method

pany.

based on the chemical reaction between amine and CO2

With regard to solid sorbent technology, we havein a solvent can be applied to gases with a relatively low

also been developing sorbents for CO2 capture to effi-

CO2 concentration, such as combustion exhaust gas,

ciently reduce energy consumption. Currently, the low-

and the method is one of the most mature CO2 capture

temperature regenerable solid sorbent that we devel-

technologies.

oped is being evaluated for practical use. Research on

Energy consumption in the process of solvent regen-practical application is now underway in collaboration

eration and the degradation of amines are factors in thewith a private company. In the near future, we will install

cost increase of the chemical absorption method. Fo-

a test facility at a coal power plant for practical applica-

cusing on the fact that the structure of amine molecules

tion.

is closely related to these factors, RITE started a new

Membrane separation is expected to be an effective

amine solvent: since the COCS project (METI's Subsidy

means of separating CO2 from high-pressure gas mix-

Project) started in 2004, RITE has been working on thetures at low cost and with low energy requirements. As

development of a high-performance amine solvent thata member of the Molecular Gate Membrane module

reduces the cost of CO2 capture.

Technology Research Association, RITE has been devel-

In the COURSE50 project (NEDO’s consignment pro-oping membranes to selectively capture CO2 from pres-ject) since 2008 with the goal of reducing CO2 emissions

surized gas mixtures containing H2, such as those gen-by 30% in the steelmaking process, RITE is working witherated in the integrated coal gasification combined cy-

Nippon Steel Corporation to upgrade the chemical ab-cle (IGCC) at low cost and with low energy use. We aresorption method. The chemical absorbent and process

also developing membranes with large areas using thedeveloped by the COURSE50 project was adopted bycontinuous membrane-forming method and develop-

the energy-saving CO2 capture facility ESCAP® of Nip-ing membrane elements for the mass production ofpon Steel Engineering Co., Ltd., which was commercial-membranes and membrane elements in the future. In

ized in 2014.

addition, we evaluated the separation performance and

ESCAP® Unit 1 was constructed on the premises ofprocess compatibility of our membrane elements using

Muroran Works for general industrial use including bev-

coal gasification real gas and are proceeding with de-erages (120t-CO2/day). This is the world's first commer-

velopment aimed at commercialization.

cial facility using the chemical absorption method for44

R&D Activities ● Chemical Research GroupRITE Today 2021

the combustion exhaust gas from a hot blast furnace ata steelworks as a CO2 source. In 2018, ESCAP® Unit 2
started operation at the Niihama Nishi Thermal Power
Station (143t-CO2/day). This is the first commercial facility in Japan to capture CO2 by the chemical absorption method from the combustion exhaust gas of coalfired power generation as the CO2 source. The recovered CO2 is used as a raw material in a nearby chemicalfactory.

Fig. 2 Liquid absorbent and solid sorbent

In 2010, RITE started the development of solid
sorbent materials mainly for CO2 capture from the combustion exhaust gas of coal-fired power plants (METI
consignment project). In the fundamental researchphase (FY 2010–2014), we succeeded in developing a
new amine suitable for solid sorbents and achieved acapture energy of 1.5 GJ/t-CO2 or less in a laboratory
scale test. This solid sorbent is an innovative material
that enables not only low energy capture but also a low
Fig. 1 Equipment of energy-saving CO2 absorption process ESCAP® at Niihama Nishi power station, Sumitomo Joint Electric Power Co., Ltd.

temperature process at 60℃.
In

thepractical

application

research

phase(METI/NEDO consignment project) from FY 2015 to2019 with Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., as a partner,

3. Solid sorbent method for CO2 capture

scale-up synthesis of solid absorbent (>10 m3), bench

Unlike a chemical absorbent in which amine is dis-scale test (>5 t-CO2/day), and real-gas exposure tests atsolved in a solvent, such as water, a solid sorbent is one

a coal-fired power plant were conducted, which

in which amine is supported on a porous material, suchachieved a CO2 capture cost of less than 3,000 yen/t-

as silica or activated carbon. In the process using a solid

CO2. Compared to other projects that used amine solid

sorbent, the heat of vaporization and sensible heatsorbents, the capture scale, energy, and cost of this pro-caused by the solvent can be suppressed, so reduction

ject were all at the top level globally.

of CO2 capture energy can be expected.

In 2020, RITE was adopted by the NEDO commissioned project with Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. In
this project, with the cooperation of Kansai ElectricPower Co., Ltd., a pilot scale test facility (40 t-CO2/day)will be constructed at the Maizuru power plant, and CO2
capture tests from the combustion exhaust gas emitted
from the coal-fired power plant will start in 2022. Currently, RITE is proceeding with rationalization and the45

R&D Activities ● Chemical Research GroupRITE Today 2021

cost reduction of solid sorbent material manufacturing

We found that novel polymeric membranes com-technology, elucidation of a material degradation

posed of dendrimer/polymer hybrid materials (termedmechanism, development of degradation prevention

molecular gate membranes) exhibited excellent CO2/H2

technology, and the upgrading of process simulation

separation performance. Fig. 5 presents a schematic

technology toward pilot scale tests.

that summarizes the working principles of a moleculargate membrane. Under humidified conditions, CO2 reacts with the amino groups in the membrane to form
either carbamate or bicarbonate, which then blocks thepassage of H2. Consequently, the amount of H2 diffusing to the other side of the membrane is greatly reduced, and high concentrations of CO2 can be obtained.
A poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) polymer matrix is used forpressure durability and to immobilize the dendrimers.

Fig. 3 Development roadmap of solid sorbent method forCO2 capture

4. Membrane separation
CO2 separation by membranes involves the selective
permeation of CO2 from the pressure difference between the feed side and the permeate side of the membrane. So, CO2 capture at low cost and energy is expected by applying the membrane processes to precombustion (Fig. 4). For this reason, we are currently developing novel CO2 selective membrane modules that
effectively separate CO2 during the IGCC process.

Fig. 5 Schematic illustration of the working principles ofthe molecular gate membrane

We developed new types of dendrimer/polymer hybrid membranes that provide superior separation of
CO2/H2 gas mixtures. Based on this work, the Molecular
Gate Membrane module Technology Research Association (MGMTRA consists of the Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth [RITE] and a private
Fig. 4 Schematic of the IGCC process with CO2 capture by
CO2 selective membrane modules

company) is researching new membranes, membraneelements (Fig. 6), and membrane separation systems.

46

R&D Activities ● Chemical Research GroupRITE Today 2021

Fig. 7 Separation performances of four-inch membrane
module using real gas and using simulated gas before
Fig. 6 CO2 selective membrane, membrane element, andmembrane module.
Membrane element: The structure with a large membrane

and after the real gas test.
Temperature: 85C, Total pressure 0.8 MPaA
Simulated gas: CO2/He/N2.

area composed of the membrane, support, and spacer.
Membrane module: The structure in which the membraneelement is placed.

In the future, we plan to develop commercial-scale
membrane modules and the membrane systems, basedon the results of the projects.

Based on the achievements of the project by the
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan,

5. New challenges

the CO2 Separation Membrane Module Research andAs mentioned above, the Chemical Research Group

Development Project (FY 2011–2014) and CO2 Separa-

has been focusing on the development and practicaltion Membrane Module Practical Research and Devel-

application of CO2 capture technologies for large-scale

opment Project (FY 2015–2018) in the current NEDO

CO2 emission sources, such as steel industries andproject, CO2 Separation Membrane Module Practicalpower plants. Finally, we will introduce two examples of

Research and Development (FY 2018–2021), we are de-new challenges. One is the capture of CO 2 from the at-veloping membranes with large areas using a continu-mosphere, or direct air capture (DAC), and the other isous membrane-forming method while developing

the development of technology to immobilize CO2 as

membrane elements. As a result, two-inch and four-

carbonate.

inch membrane elements with enough pressure dura-

In order to achieve carbon neutrality, a technology

bility were successfully prepared.

that can remove CO2 emitted into the atmosphere, that

In addition, we conducted pre-combustion CO2 capture

is, a negative emission technology, is indispensable. In

tests of the membrane elements using coal gasification

recent years, DAC has been attracting attention as one

gas at the Wakamatsu Research Institute, Electric Powerof the representative negative emission technologies,

Development Co. Ltd. in Japan in order to identify andand is being studied overseas. It is hoped that the re-then solve the technical problems of the membrane el-covered energy and costs will be significantly reduced

ements (Fig. 7). As a result, it was confirmed that thefor future implementation. In Japan, challenging re-membrane elements were durable against the real gas

search and development is being carried out in NEDO's(containing impurities, such as H2S).

"Moonshot R & D Project" that started in 2020. RITE has
started studying the optimum materials and systems for47

R&D Activities ● Chemical Research GroupRITE Today 2021

DAC in cooperation with Kanazawa University and pri-

which is a stable compound, by reacting with CO2 (Fig.

vate companies in this project: the following three items

9). By combining the unique processes developed bywill be developed to establish carbon recycling technol-

RITE and R&D skills with the technological capabilities

ogies that capture CO2 from the atmosphere and con-and broad insights of the two leading steel and cement

vert the recovered CO2 into valuable resources.

industries, synergistic effects are expected for techno-

R&D items 1: Development of a new solid sorbent

logical development.

material for low-concentration CO2 capture and a system to recover low-concentration CO2 with high efficiency.
R&D items 2: Development of CO2 conversion technology (Fischer–Tropsch synthesis) using an inorganic
separation membrane for synthesizing liquid hydrocarbon fuel from CO2 with high efficiency and low energy
consumption.
R&D items 3: Life cycle assessment (LCA) evaluation

Fig. 9 CO2 fixation as carbonatesand economic evaluation regarding the conversion process to liquid hydrocarbon fuel using CO 2 recoveredfrom the atmosphere.

6. Conclusion
As stated above, the Chemical Research Group hasenergetically promoted the development of CO2 separation and recovery technology mainly for the chemical
absorption method, the solid sorbent method, andmembraneseparation.

Thechemicalabsorption

method has been deployed from the demonstration
stage to commercial machines for blast furnace exhaustgas and combustion exhaust gas from coal-fired power
plants and has already been put to practical use as a
CO2 separation and recovery technology. In the solidFig. 8 Development of highly efficient direct air capture(DAC) and carbon recycling technologies

sorbent method, we have begun studying combustion
exhaust gas from coal-fired power plants for a 40 tCO2/day scale pilot test from FY 2020. In membrane

In the technology of CO2 fixation as a carbonate, RITE

separation, we confirmed the separation ability of CO2

developed a unique process over many years. Fromand H2 in an actual gas test using a membrane element

2020, JFE Steel Co., Ltd., Taiheiyo Cement Co., Ltd., andfrom coal gasification gas. In addition, we have just be-

RITE set up a study group to target steel slag and waste

gun to develop DAC technology newly adopted in NE-

concrete and then use alkaline earth metals extracted

DO's Moonshot R&D Project and CO2 fixation technol-from these for utilization with the CO2 emitted from fac-ogy using steel slag and waste concrete.

tories and other facilities. We are cooperating in the de-

The Chemistry Research Group will work vigorously

velopment of technology for recovering as carbonates,on individual research topics with these themes. Among48

R&D Activities ● Chemical Research GroupRITE Today 2021

them, for the themes close to the practical stage, we will
carry out scale-up studies and actual gas tests with theaim of establishing the technology at an early stage. At
the same time, we would like to develop innovativetechnologies and propose CO2 separation and recovery
technologies that can save more energy and reduce
costs.

49

R&D Activities ● CO2 Storage Research GroupRITE Today 2021

CO2 Storage Research Group
Members (As of Dec.2020)
Ziqiu Xue, Group Leader, Chief Researcher
Kenji Uchida, Deputy Group Leader, Chief Researcher
Satoru Yokoi, Chief Researcher
Makoto Nomura, Chief Researcher
Nobuo Takasu, Associate Chief Researcher
Takahiro Nakajima, Associate Chief Researcher
Takeshi Myoi, Associate Chief Researcher
Ryozo Tanaka, Associate Chief Researcher
Tsutomu Hashimoto, Senior Researcher
Saeko Mito, Senior Researcher
Yasuhiro Okabayashi, Senior Researcher
Tetsuma Toshioka, Senior Researcher
Osamu Takano, Senior Researcher
Keisuke Uchimoto, Senior Researcher
Hironobu Komaki, Senior Researcher
Atsushi Ibusuki, Senior Researcher
Nobutoshi Shimizu, Senior Researcher
Tsutomu Soejima, Senior Researcher
Yuji Watanabe, Senior Researcher

Yi Zhang, Senior Researcher
Hyuck Park, Senior Researcher
Jiro Suekuni, Senior Researcher
Satoko Fuchikami, Chief
Kimiko Nakanishi, Chief
Yankun Sun, Researcher
Takayuki Miyoshi, Researcher
Masafumi Kotani, Researcher
Takeya Nagata, Researcher
Rasha Amer, Researcher
Hiroto Yoshikawa, Researcher
Junko Hirai, Research AssistantShiori Tsuji, Research AssistantYuko Himi, Research AssistantAkemi Nishide, Research Assistant
Megumi Okumichi, Research Assistant
Megumi Sasaki, Research Assistant
Tokio Sasai, Research AssistantResearch and Development on Geological CO2 Storage for Safe CCS
Operation
1. Introduction

large scale CO2 reservoirs.

In terms of capturing and sequestrating of CO2 from

Our development up to now has moved a number oflarge scale emission sources geological CO2 storage istechnologies into a stage of demonstration in theone of the most important options for achieving ambi-

fields: safety management systems for injection, as-tious net zero CO2 emission goals.

sessment/monitoring technologies for the stability of

The CO2 Storage Research Group as a member of theGeological Carbon Dioxide Storage Technology Re-

geological formations and an efficient injection technology.

search Association has conducted a project funded by

To contribute to large-scale CO2 storage, it is critical

the New Energy and Industrial Technology Develop-

to prove these technologies applicable for an actual

ment Organization (NEDO), called “Research and De-site at scale. The CO2 Storage Research Group has beenvelopment of CO2 Storage Technology to implement

working closely with universities and research institutes

safe CCS”.

internationally to move forward with technical demon-

The project is in a technology development phasestration at large sites overseas.

for large-scale CO2 storage, which is qualified with safe

Highlighted in the following sections are our out-

injection and storage of more than 1 Mt CO2/y understanding achievements in 2020: a microbubble CO 2

the ground. To achieve the goal, our group has been

injection technology, a safety management system fordeveloping technologies for safety management, effi-

CO2 storage (ATLS: Advanced Traffic Light System) andcient injection and effective resource utilization forsystems for CO2 leakage detection and marine envi-

50

R&D Activities ● CO2 Storage Research GroupRITE Today 2021

ronmental impact assessment. We have developed

contour. The two core samples are comparable inthese technologies as systems with high practicability

terms of their pore space volume. Microbubble CO2 fills

and applicability. The microbubble CO2 injection tech-

the space more densely (upper panel of Figure 1) andnology will be applied to multiple overseas geologicalis injected and dissolved more (lower panel) than con-

CO2 storage sites, including that in North Dakota, USAventionally-injected CO2, so called normal bubble.

and that of the Junlun Petroleum Company in China.
Other technologies of ours being demonstrated at a
CO2 storage site include Distributed Fiber Optical
Sensing (DFOS). We have created our own method tomeasure strains of geological formations and integrated it into multi-sensor systems capable of concurrent measurements of temperature, pressure, acoustic
wave, and strain of geological formations. That system
is also being implemented and demonstrated at an
overseas site.
Through improving our technologies and implementing them in the fields, our group continues toFig. 1

Evaluation for storage efficiency of microbubble
CO2 using core samples

contribute to CCUS deployment.
For the field tests of microbubble injection in 2020,
2. Major Research Topics and Outcomes

we used the Sarukawa oil field owned by JAPEX in Oga,

2.1. Microbubble CO2 Injection technology

Akita, where we did previous tests last year. The tar-

Microbubble CO2 injection technology is to turn CO2

geted formation for injection there was a low permea-

into microbubbles through a special ceramic filter andble sandstone layer at a depth of around 800 m. In

then to inject the microbubble CO2 under the ground.

order to improve efficiency in installation of our mi-

Microbubble CO2 has the following advantages in in-

crobubble CO2 generator, we have designed a smaller

jection for geological CO2 storage:

system, length of which below the packer is 14 m, 1/6- To easily enter gaps (pore throat) of sandstone that isin comparison with the last year one, 84 m (Figure 2).

composed of reservoir,- To access more pore space than where CO2 injectedby a conventional way, andThanks to the design change, time for installment andde-installment was reduced to about 1/3 from 15
hours to 4 hours.

- To easily dissolve in saline water.
The CO2 Storage Research Group has demonstrated
these advantages in lab and field tests. In the lab tests,
we used core samples of rock in an X-ray CT scanner.
The upper panel of Figure 1 shows a result from a series of tests. The panel illustrates CO2 distribution at atime when CO2 injected at the left edge reached apoint 82mm away from the edge with warm color

51

R&D Activities ● CO2 Storage Research GroupRITE Today 2021

The field tests demonstrated the validity of thesmaller microbubble generator and the improvementof its installing work successfully. This will contribute tocost saving in the production, installation andde-installation of the microbubble injection system.
Our development of the microbubble CO2 generation technology was initiated by a fundamental study
in collaboration with Tokyo Gas. We have acquired apatent of the technology (registered patent No.
5399436), titled “storage device and storage method
for stored substances”. Through various lab tests andfield demonstration, we have completed its development phase. At present, we are attempting to deploy
the technology globally, applying it to actual projects,
Fig. 2

Overview of the microbubble CO2 injection tools
settings in a borehole

The system downsizing also reduced the size of the
microbubble generator from 18m to 4.5m. These

including those in North Dakota in the USA and in
Junlun Petroleum Company’s field in China.

2.2. Development of Advanced Traffic Light System(ATLS) for the Safety Management of CO2 Injectionchanges resulted in shallower microbubble generation

In various underground fluid injection projects, there(Figure 2b), whereas it was at a depth of the formation

are concerns that an increase of formation pressure

targeted for injection in 2019 (Figure 2a). Microbubble

induces earthquakes. Operation in waste water injec-

injection tests were conducted to verify whether thetion and enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), is

new configurations can still exploit the advantages oftherefore, managed in a way that prevents induced

microbubble CO2 by comparing the performance inseismicity around its site with Traffic Light Systems

2019. The injection rate was set out at 1.5 tonnes per(TLS). According to reports at CO2 storage sites to date,day, the same as last year. The wellhead pressure was

microseismicity observed there have been limited to a

8.4 MPa, whereas the bottom-hole pressure was risen

magnitude of 1.1 or less. However, we should deeply

from 8.8 MPa to 14.9 MPa and then was kept at theconsider and implement risk management at a CO2

level. The CO2 injection index, which is an injection rate

storage site, taking the possibility of the seismicity into

per MPa, was 0.25 tonnes/day/MPa. This is comparable

account.

with the last year performance of 0.36 tonnes/day/MPa

Our group has been developing a microseismicity

and higher than the performance of conventional in-management system for CO2 storage in Japan, calledjection of 0.09 tonnes/day/MPa. These results proved

ATLS (Advanced TLS). The requirements for the systemthat microbubble injection with the new configuration

suitable for Japan are:is also capable of injecting more CO2 than the conven-- Capability to extract microseismic events fromtional one. The CO2 storage efficiency was high enoughground motion data that include data of a number

at 82.9%, equivalent to the last year rate.

of natural earthquakes and high-level environmental

52

R&D Activities ● CO2 Storage Research Groupnoise caused by human activities,- Function to determine the hypocenters of microseismic events, and- Capability to process data in real time automatically.

RITE Today 2021

plicable to various sites. An example is to support
seismic observation planning which, using a layout ofseismometers and an event location as input, calculates an event location to be estimated by ATLS. Comparison the actual event location with the estimatedIn order to build a management system that meets

one makes it possible to assess the adequacy ofthese requirements, we have been conducting R&D forplanned seismometer locations and an expected ac-

ATLS using data from the Tomakomai Demonstration

curacy of event positioning beforehand from theSite, where microseismicity has been monitored at its

viewpoint of ATLS operation.

CO2 storage site. Figure 3 illustrates a schematic viewof the workflow of ATLS. After obtaining ground motion data, the extraction of seismic events and theidentification of their locations are automatically carried out. In parallel, a latest hypocenter catalog is obtained from the Japan Methodological Agency (JMA),
which is used to exclude natural earthquakes from thecatalog generated in ATLS.

Fig. 4

An example of the output from ATLS

Another example is a tool for the conversion of input
data formats. ATLS had initially been designed only for
the SEGD format, which is used in the Tomakomai testsite. With the developed tool, ATLS is now capable ofFig. 3

Flow diagram of ATLS

handling min-SEED and ASCII formats, which arewidely used in natural seismic observation.

Using the continuous observation data for 2 years or

The validation of ATLS by applying it to the actual

more in Tomakomai, it was demonstrated that ATLS has

CO2 storage site in Tomakomai and the expansion of

the capability to automatically analyze ground motion

applicable sites with additional tools has completed

data and to locate each of the detected microseismic

our development of ATLS.

events near at the injection point. Figure 4 shows animage of the output report of ATLS. This presents the

2.3. Integrated system of CO2 leakage detection andfrequency and locations of micro- and natural earth-marine environmental impact assessment

quakes in the monitoring area and the colors of traffic
light determined by the ATLS.

Since CO2 storage sites are deliberately selected tostore CO2 stably and safely, it is considered that CO2

In addition to the main system, we have developed

leakage from the geological reservoirs is remotely

auxiliary tools to support this system to be more ap-

possible. Monitoring a CO2 behavior is, however, still53

R&D Activities ● CO2 Storage Research GroupRITE Today 2021

essential as there are public concerns about CO2 leak-constructed a database, with which we can extractage. In addition, when storing CO2 in the sub-seabedcorrelation between values of ΔpCO2 and their impacts

geological formation in Japan, it is mandated to assess

easily. By given features of organisms (e.g. taxonomic

marine environmental impacts based on the supposi-groups, habitats), the database selects organisms thattion of CO2 leakage and to monitor to verify that there

meet the conditions and outputs data on how they

are no signs of CO2 leakage or migration from the res-could be affected by different levels of ΔpCO2. Com-ervoir. Hence, our group has studied and developedbining the output data from the database and themethods of the marine environmental impact assess-simulated distribution of ΔpCO2, we can deduce what

ment and those of the monitoring for several years.

kinds of marine organisms could be how affected inThis year, we have combined our developed methods

which areas.

into an integrated system. Here, we outline the methods that we have developed.

To identify signs of CO2 leakage, the scope of monitoring should cover a wide range from deep geological

For marine environmental impact assessment, weformations, including CO2 reservoir, to the sea. The

focus on increase of pCO2 (ΔpCO2; pCO2 is an index ofreservoir is at a depth of around 1 kilometer or deeper

CO2 concentration in seawater). Firstly the distribution

under the seabed. According to a simulation that weof the elevation of pCO2 is estimated based on sup-conducted previously, the amount of time that CO2

posed CO2 leakage, and then it is projected how the

migrates from a reservoir to the seabed right above

estimated ΔpCO2 could impact which organisms. As

would be more than 5 years. Since the pathway of thethe leaked CO2 is dispersed by ocean currents, the dis-

CO2 migration would depend on the characteristics oftribution of ΔpCO2 is computed with currents in the sea

the formations between the reservoir and the seabed,calculated by an ocean model. The calculation of theCO2 would not necessarily leak into the sea in the area

distribution of ΔpCO2 requires a relatively small area,

right above the reservoir. Taking these into considera-

whose sides are smaller than a hundred kilometers. Ontion, we propose the following strategy for the moni-

the other hand, the calculation of the ocean currents

toring. Initially, we should put the focus on the deepneeds a much wider area because they are driven un-

formations including the reservoir to detect signs of

der the influence of meteorological conditions andCO2 migration from the reservoir. Then, if detect, we

ocean topography over several hundred kilometers. In

move to in-depth investigation, targeting at overbur-

our method, realistic currents oceanic data are calcu-den, to narrow the potential area for CO2 to leak out.

lated in a larger area model with a lower resolution andLastly, we prove the narrowed area to detect signals ofthen we obtain the calculated current data as theleaked CO2 in water column.

boundary conditions for a simulation of ΔpCO2 distri-

Regarding the monitoring in the water column, webution which is simulated in the smaller area with ahave explored and developed methods to detect sig-

higher resolution.

nals of CO2 leakage. There are 2 kinds of signals of the

The simulated ΔpCO2 are used to assess what im-

leakage: one is CO2 bubbles and the other is elevatedpacts they could make on which organisms. The rela-

CO2 concentration. Considering that a promising op-tion between ΔpCO2 and its impacts on a marine or-tion for detection of CO2 bubbles is side-scan sonar

ganism have been reported in many studies, but those(SSS, a kind of sonar system), we conducted an in-situ

data were not compiled into one. We have, hence,experiment to investigate the capability of SSS to de-54

R&D Activities ● CO2 Storage Research GroupRITE Today 2021

tect CO2 bubbles in the sea. The experiment was to test

be given by the pCO2-DO threshold can be varied,

whether SSS can detect CO2 bubbles released on thedepending on seasons. We have also found out that inseabed in various conditions. Our findings include that

evaluating the covariance of pCO2 and DO, it is neces-

SSS is capable of detecting bubbles released at a ratesary to take account of a difference in the responseof higher than 2-4 tonnes per annum and that the dis-times of the sensors. As has been stated, we havetance between the neighboring observation lines in the

proposed the pCO2-DO threshold to detect signs ofmonitoring should be shorter than the altitude of SSS

CO2 leakage and clarified its various features, which(i.e. the distance between SSS and the seabed beneathwould be important in actual monitoring operation. Itit). The 4 tonnes of CO2 are remarkably small quantities;

should be, however, highlighted that to detect anoma-

they are comparable to CO2 that 10 people breathe out

lies in pCO2 caused by CO2 leakage at a small leakage

in a year.

rate, it is essential to observe in sea at high resolution

As to detection of CO2 concentration elevated byboth spatially and temporally. This is because dissolved

CO2 leakage, we have studied identification of anoma-

CO2 is easily dispersed by currents and because evenlously high values of pCO2 caused by CO2 leakage if

though the leak point is the same, the area where pCO2

any. CO2 is naturally contained in seawater, and its

becomes anomalous is varied depending on flow di-concentration naturally fluctuates. This makes it chal-

rection and strength and leakage rate. We, therefore,

lenging to determine whether high pCO2 values aresuggest that indexes of CO2 concentration such asderived from CO2 leakage or from natural variability,

pCO2 and pH be monitored not for detection of CO2

and to define a threshold for the judgement (Fig. 5).

leakage but for confirmation that marine environment

The threshold that we put forward is based on covari-remains unchanged after commencement of CO2

ance between dissolved oxygen (DO) and pCO2 (re-storage.

ferred to as the pCO2-DO threshold, hereafter). First,

We will incorporate these outcomes into the best

we have examined its validity through an analysis ofpractice manual that we have been compiling, hoping

natural fluctuation in quarterly data of its kind acquiredthat they are used in full-scale offshore CO2 storage

in Osaka Bay, an enclosed bay in Japan, over 9 years.

operation.

Our conclusions include that, in the identification of
anomalous pCO2 due to CO2 leakage in summer, whennatural variability in pCO2 is large, or in areas where so
is it, the proposed pCO2-DO threshold is superior to a
threshold simply based on pCO2, and that the threshold should be set out based on data for at least 5 years.
As a next step, we have carried out a continuous observation of pCO2, DO and so on in Osaka Bay morethan a year and analyzed their natural fluctuation. This
has revealed that pCO2 in the innermost part of the bay
in summer fluctuates largely and that pCO2 occasionally changes significantly within a few hours. The dataover 1 year has revealed that a rate of false-positives toFig. 5

The relation between the threshold andfalse-positives and -negatives

55

R&D Activities ● CO2 Storage Research GroupRITE Today 2021

2.4. Contribution to the world by cutting-edge tech-Center (EERC), the University of North Dakota, USA. We

nology development

have built mutually beneficial relationships in this pro-

There are a number of large-scale geological CO2

ject: the US side is to be able to monitor the stability ofstorage projects in operation worldwide, including

the geological CO2 storage site and CO2 plume behav-

Snøhvit in Norway, Quest in Canada, Gorgon in Aus-

iors, and our side has got an opportunity to demon-

tralia. All these projects have successfully injected andstrate our DFOS system and to improve techniques forstored CO2 at about 1Mt/y.

its installation at their site.

Such large-scale CO2 storage has unfortunately not

Our optic-sensing technology will have more andyet been implemented in Japan. Nevertheless, ourmore opportunities to be demonstrated and deployedgroup intends to contribute to global CCS deployment

around the world. It will be, for example, applied tothrough international cooperation by providing ourmonitor deformation of seabed surface in a European

core competency technologies for large scale geolog-

project called SENSE, which is probing the stability ofical CO2 storage.

offshore CO2 storage. There also can be chances for

One of our core technologies is the aforementioned
microbubble CO2 injection technology which improves

our system to be implemented in CO2 storage projects
being planned in Asian countries.

CO2 storage efficiency even for low permeability for-The promotion of CCS by collaborating internation-mations. This will enable to use, for example, a CO 2

ally is crucial for Japan to achieve our ambitious zero

storage site closer to a CO2 source, giving more flexi-

emission goal in 2050. Please keep your eye on thebility in site selection. This is a pivotal contributor for

activities of the CO2 Storage Research Group, RITE. We

CCS promotion in the world. Moreover, we will also

continue to contribute to CCS deployment by devel-strengthen our contribution to CO2-EOR by demon-

oping innovative technologies and consulting for theirstrating increased oil production in low-permeability

applications.

fields in China, which we have been jointly researchingwith Junlun Petroleum Company since 2018.
Another example is Distributed Fiber Optical Sensing(DFOS). In addition to functions of fiber optical sensing
to monitor pressure, temperature and so forth under
the ground that have already been used in the oil industry, our group has created our own method tomeasure strains of geological formations and has integrated and demonstrated them as a multi-sensor system that enables concurrent measurements of temperature, pressure, seismicity and strain of geologicalformations.
Our DFOS system draws attention not only domestically but also internationally. We have been conducting its demonstration at a commercial CCS site in collaboration with the Energy & Environmental Research56

R&D Activities ● Inorganic Membranes Research Center

RITE Today 2021

Inorganic Membranes Research Center
Members (As of Dec. 2020)
Shin-ichi Nakao, Director of the Center, Chief Researcher
Yuichiro Yamaguchi, Deputy-Director, Chief Researcher
Hidetoshi Kita, Chief Researcher
Masahiro Seshimo, Senior Researcher
Kenichiro Yasuhara, Senior Researcher
Makoto Ryoji, Senior Researcher
Hye Ryeon Lee, Researcher

Hiromi Urai, Research AssistantYuko Nara, Research AssistantKazuaki Sasa, Research AssistantNobuaki Oono, Research AssistantChiyoko Shindo, Research Assistant
Akiyoshi Fujii, Research AssistantKeiko Komono, Research AssistantResearch and Development of Innovative Environmental and Energy
Technologies that Use Inorganic Membranes and Efforts for Practical
Use and Industrialization
1. Introduction

partment, hydrogen separation, purification, manufac-

Inorganic membranes, such as silica membranes andturing, separation, and recovery are performed using

zeolite membranes, have the features of excellent heatsilica membranes, zeolite membranes, and palladium

resistance and environmental resistance, in addition tomembranes, each of which offers excellent characteris-high separation performance, and are expected to ap-

tics. We are conducting research on the ways to more

ply to various applications. Compared to the conven-effectively use the CO2 produced. In the Industrial Col-tional separation and purification methods of distilla-

laboration Department, the Industrialization Strategy

tion and adsorption, inorganic membranes can save en-Council, which consists of 18 companies of inorganic

ergy, and they are also being developed for CO 2 sepa-

separator and support substrate manufacturers andration and purification, as well as for hydrogen separa-user companies, aims to share the vision among manu-tion and purification, which are indispensable for a so-facturers and user companies by planning joint research.

ciety that intends to use hydrogen in practical ways.

Member companies have regular opportunities to share

Therefore, the use of the membranes is attracting aideas and promote activities through study groups.

great deal of attention as an environmental and energy

In 2020, we constructed a membrane reactor (MR) us-

technology that contributes to the preservation of theing a silica membrane and a palladium membrane in a

global environment. However, practical application has

project that directly decomposes methane and pro-so far been limited to alcohol dehydration. In the future,

duces hydrogen, which was commissioned by the New

innovative environmental and energy technologies us-

Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organ-

ing inorganic membranes will be required for earlyization (NEDO), and confirmed the high conversion ratecommercialization and industrialization.

of the membrane reactor with this reaction system. We

The Inorganic Membrane Research Center (IMeRC)
has two departments: the Research Department and theIndustrial Cooperation Department. In the Research De-

reported to the committee of NEDO, and the project
was completed.
As for CO2 separation, capture, and utilization (CCU:
Carbon Capture and Utilization), we developed a zeolite57

R&D Activities ● Inorganic Membranes Research Center

RITE Today 2021

membrane with high selectivity for water and applied it

the objective was follows: a) development of a high hy-

to a membrane reactor to enhance the conversion rate

drogen permselective membrane with durability under

for methanol. We confirmed a three-fold improvement

high temperature conditions (>500°C), b) developmentin the conversion rate compared to conversion in theof a catalyst that activates at relatively low reaction tem-reactor. In addition, NEDO's Moonshot research andperatures for the membrane reactor, and c) the devel-

development program was commissioned jointly withopment of membrane reactors consisting of a hydrogen

Kanazawa University and the Chemical Research Groupseparation membrane and a catalyst with a demonstra-for the development of highly efficient direct air capturetion of their effectiveness. (Fig. 1)(DAC) and carbon recycling technologies, and IMeRC
conducts research to develop a process to produce liquid fuel from the CO2 collected from the atmosphere
At the Industrialization Strategy Council, the second
phase (2019–2020) of the Common Base (Reliability
Evaluation Method) Research Group and the CO2 Separation Research Group was completed, and seminars
were held on the Web.
This paper introduces the main achievements and future prospects of the research division, such as hydro-

Fig. 1 Application of a membrane reactor to the hydrogengen production from methane and CCU technology de-production process from methane decomposition

velopment, and the status of the activities of the Industrialization Strategy Council.

For the development of a hydrogen permselective
membrane in a), silica and palladium membranes are

2. Development of CO2-free hydrogen production tech-candidates. The guidelines for membrane formation

nology from methane decomposition

were narrowed down based on membrane formation

To realize a society that relies on hydrogen, a method

experiments and literature searches. The development

is required to produce hydrogen at low cost and in largeof silica membranes was examined using various silica

quantities. With the focus on methane, which can besources, and the silica source was selected by evaluat-

stably supplied for a long time because of the shale gas

ing permeation separation performance. As a result, werevolution, hydrogen and solid carbon are produced bywere able to achieve the target performance for thispyrolysis, and hydrogen production costs can be re-project with a membrane using dimethoxydime-

duced by selling the carbon. A membrane reactor,

thylsilane (DMDMS: a silicon compound in which two

which is applied to that reaction, could produce hydro-

methyl groups and two methoxy groups are bonded to

gen at low cost and save on energy consumption. In ad-

Si as the center) as a silica source. Furthermore, by care-dition, the process has the advantage of not emitting

fully examining the membrane formation conditions forcarbon dioxide and is a technological development thatDMDMS, it was possible to form silica membranes that

contributes to a decarbonized society.

exhibited high heat resistance (Fig. 2).

Adopted as a contract project of NEDO in FY 2019,58

R&D Activities ● Inorganic Membranes Research Center

RITE Today 2021

candidates. Regarding the catalysts, 20 types with different preparation conditions, such as coprecipitation
temperature, dropping method, type of precipitant, andcomposition, were prototyped, and as a result of evaluating the reactivity, a catalyst with relatively high performance was selected for the membrane reactor. (Fig.
3)

Fig. 2 Results of heat durability tests of silica membranes

Fig. 3 Trial production and performance evaluation of cat-with different membrane forming conditions

alysts for methane decomposition

Regarding the development of palladium mem-

Regarding the development of the membrane reactor

branes, we examined the membrane formation condi-in c), a membrane reactor was designed and manufac-

tions of Pd-Cu alloy membranes, which are expected to

tured, and a membrane reaction test was conducted us-

improve heat resistance while maintaining high hydro-

ing the Ni/Fe/Al2O3 catalyst selected in b) and a palla-

gen permeability, as a pore-filled membrane, which isdium membrane and a silica membrane were chosen

an inorganic membrane developed by the RITE Re-

for use as the hydrogen separation membrane. A reac-search Center of Technology. It was confirmed from thetion test was performed. It was confirmed that the con-SEM-EDX of the formed membrane that the membraneversion rate was improved by applying the Pd mem-

could be formed with the desired composition (Pd 60

brane and the silica membrane under the conditions of

Cu 40 wt%). Furthermore, by scrutinizing the membranea reaction temperature of 600°C and a reaction pressureformation conditions, the hydrogen permeability of theof 0.4 MPa, the effectiveness of the membrane reactor

intrapore-filled Pd membrane at 500°C was improved to

was demonstrated, and it was confirmed that the ob-

1.3 x 10-6 mol m-2 s-1 Pa-1 (previously 8 x 10-7). We devel-tained carbon has a structure in which graphene is lam-

oped a hydrogen permeable membrane with heat re-inated around the catalyst (Fig. 4).

sistance and achieved the target performance.

On the other hand, the hydrogen permeation perfor-

Regarding the catalyst development in b), we con-mance of the Pd membrane after the test was reduced

ducted a literature survey targeting hydrogen produc-

to about one-half. From the SEM-EDX results of thetion by direct decomposition of methane in Japan andmembrane after the test, it was confirmed that carbon

other countries, grasped the technological develop-

was dissolved in the Pd layer, suggesting that the de-ment trends, and investigated catalysts that could becrease in hydrogen permeation performance was due

applied to membrane reactors. As a result, Ni/Fe/Al2O3

to the solid solution of carbon. We are working on

catalysts, which have been reported to produce highcountermeasures for the new issue.

yields at relatively low temperatures, were selected as59

R&D Activities ● Inorganic Membranes Research Center

RITE Today 2021

CO2 + 3H2 ⇄ CH3OH (methanol) + H2O

To solve these problems, a membrane reactor can beapplied to the application because generated water canbe removed from the reaction system through themembrane, and the reaction will be promoted to themethanol producing side. However, it is difficult to apply the A-type zeolite (LTA) membrane, which is often
used for water separation, from the viewpoint of hydroFig. 4 Results of membrane reaction test using palladium
membrane and SEM image of obtained carbon

thermal stability.
Herein, we successfully developed a novel zeolite
membrane for water separation, which has higher hy-

3. CO2 utilization technologies in RITE

drothermal stability compared to the conventional LTA-

Recently, CO2 utilization technologies have been ac-

type zeolite membrane. The membrane was applied totively researched and developed in countries aroundthe membrane reactor for methanol synthesis via CO2

the world, including the EU, as being effective in reduc-hydrogenation, and the CO2 conversion from the mem-ing CO2 emissions. On the other hand, in the hydro-

brane reactor showed higher rates than those from a

genation of CO2, water is generated by the reaction,

conventional packed-bed reactor (Fig. 5). In the future,

which decreases the reaction rate. In addition, most re-

we will proceed with research and development of prac-actions are exothermic, and the removal of the reaction

tical uses for the methanol synthesis membrane reactor.

heat is one of the problems. In order to solve these
problems, highly efficient, energy-saving CO2 utilization
technology has been developed at the Inorganic Membranes Research Center using a membrane reactor.

3.1. Development of effective methanol synthesis fromCO2 hydrogenation
Methanol is an important intermediate for chemical
products, and demand is expected to grow in the future.
Methanol is mainly synthesized using syn-gas (mixture
gases of CO and H2); however, synthesis requires hightemperatures and pressure. Generally, Cu/ZnO-based
catalysts are used with the reaction within the temperature range of 473–573 K. On the other hand, the one-Fig. 5 Membrane reactor for methanol synthesis using apass yield shows low values owing to thermodynamic

zeolite membrane

equilibrium limitations. This is remarkable in the methanol synthesis from CO2 hydrogenation represented by
the following reaction formula.

60

R&D Activities ● Inorganic Membranes Research Center

RITE Today 2021

3.2. Development of liquid hydrocarbon fuel synthesis

the reaction field via hydrogen permselective mem-technology using CO2 as a raw material captured frombranes, such as a silica and palladium. We succeeded in

the airdeveloping the Si-rich LTA-type zeolite membrane with

The NEDO project Moonshot Research & Develop-

improved hydrothermal stability compared to the con-ment Program was adopted in collaboration with Kan-ventional LTA-type zeolite membrane. We are also in-azawa University since 2020. At the IMeRC, we acceptedvolved in the development of pore-filled Pd membranes

the challenge of developing the technology to convert

and silica membranes with excellent hydrogen perm-

the captured CO2 into liquid hydrocarbon fuel by FT

selectivity. In the future, we will make the best use of(Fischer-Tropsch) synthesis. Similar to methanol synthe-

the knowledge we acquired and strongly promote thesis, the water produced from the reaction causes cata-development of inorganic membranes and membranelyst deactivation and a reaction rate reduction in FT syn-reactors applicable to FT synthesis. We then intend tothesis. Another problem was that reaction control was

unravel the science of inorganic membranes that wedifficult because the product followed the ASF (Ander-

have left unattended.

son-Schulz-Flory) distribution.
4. Activities and efforts toward commercialization andindustrialization
The core of the industrial collaboration department of
the IMeRC is the Industrialization Strategy Council. A total of 18 separation membrane and support manufacturers and user companies (as of January 2021) participate on this council. Our goal is to establish an inorganic
Fig. 6 Overview of the Moonshot project at RITE

membrane industry that contributes to innovative environmental and energy technologies by promoting a

Therefore, in this project, we will develop high effi-common vision for manufacturers and user companies,

ciency, energy-saving CO2 utilization technology fromas well as a joint research plan involving national pro-the CO2 captured from the air as the raw material forjects and other initiatives.

the membrane reactor. Research and development
items are as follows.
a) Development of a membrane applicable to FT synthesisb) Development of a membrane reactor for FT synthesis

We are promoting a variety of activities, which include
the following:a) Sponsoring needs and seeds matching meetings
toward the practical use of innovative environmental and energy technologies that use inorganic
membranes, and the establishment and operationc) Search for the optimal process structureof a research group that will prepare the future

Catalyst deactivation can be suppressed if the gener-

roadmap

ated water can be removed from the reaction side byusing a hydrophilic membrane, such as zeolite. Furthermore, the reaction can be controlled by supplying H2 tob) Planning joint implementation projects funded by
the government and NEDOc) Acceptance of researchers from council members

61

R&D Activities ● Inorganic Membranes Research Center

RITE Today 2021

to the Research Section of the IMeRC and the im-branes, the seminars have been highly rated as mean-

plementation of training workshops

ingful places for interaction between member compa-d) Offering technical guidance from the IMeRC Advi-

nies and front-line researchers.

sory Board and Research Sectione) Hosting exclusive technology seminars for council
membersf) Offering exclusive supply services (Needs and Seeds
Technology Information) to council members

In 2020, because of the relationship with the COVID19 virus, although there were some changes from theoriginal plan, such as postponing the holding of work-

Fig. 7 Lecture at the Seminar (April 2019)

shops, a working group was established that would use
the Web and promote studies as the CO2 Separation

5. In conclusion

Study Group and the Common Infrastructure (reliability

In 2020, we constructed a membrane reactor (MR) in

evaluation, etc.) Study Group and subordinate organi-a project that directly decomposes methane and pro-zation. The group met a total of four times as the CO2

duces hydrogen, which was commissioned by NEDO,

Separation Study Group and a total of seven times as

and confirmed the high conversion rate of the mem-the Common Infrastructure (reliability evaluation, etc.)

brane reactor with this reaction system. We reported toStudy Group, and they further deepened the investiga-

the committee of NEDO. Regarding this project, a newtion. The Common Infrastructure Study Group aims toproject is scheduled to start in 2021, and we plan tolaunch a government-sponsored project after 2021 bywork toward more practical use through this project.

conducting a concrete preliminary test for accelerated

Steadily achieved results in research and develop-

deterioration of zeolite membranes and to acquire basic

ment made effective use of CO2; in addition, NEDO's

data for establishing long-term reliability. The CO2 Sep-

Moonshot research and development program wasaration Study Group studied the main theme of the ap-

commissioned for the development of highly efficientplicability of inorganic membranes to natural gas fields

direct air capture and carbon recycling technologies,

containing high concentrations of CO2.

and we conduct the research to develop the process on

In addition, seminars for council members were held

produce the liquid fuel from collected CO2 from the at-on the Web (three times a year in FY 2020). In the future,mosphere. With the acquisition of a long-term funded

we plan to give lectures on the latest R&D trends andproject, it will be possible to organize the IMeRC, and inneeds, seeds, and practical development cases of mem-the future, we would like to work diligently to become

branes from advisory boards, member companies, anda core organization that leads the development andmembrane-related companies, and there will be lively

practical application of inorganic membranes in thequestions, answers, and discussions. It is done. In addi-

world.

tion to gaining useful knowledge related to the practicalapplication and industrialization of inorganic mem-62

Press Releases ・ Events ・ Paper, Presentation and Publication ・Other Activities

RITE Today 2021

Click the link to open the RITE website

Press Releases

EventsPaper, Presentation and Publication
Systems Analysis Group
Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology Group
Chemical Research Group
CO2 Storage Research Group
Inorganic Membranes Research Center

Other Activities◆Environmental Education
Number of partici-

Date

Participants

27 Jan.

Fifth grade, Kizugawadai Elementary School

33

4 Feb.

Retired head teachers of Kyoto Yamashiro area

37

18 Feb.

First grade, Seikaminami Junior High School

4

pants

63

RITE Today

2021 Vol.16

AnnuaI Report

Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth

9-2 Kizugawadai,
Kizugawa-shi, Kyoto

URL: www.rite.or.jp

619-0292 JAPAN

Email: pub_rite@rite.or.jp

TEL.+81-774-75-2300