Social Cooperation
Research Departments

A Global Network of Renewable Fuels
Material
Environment and Energy

Realize the world's first renewablehydrogen society
Professor

Chemical Biomedicine

Professor

Tatsuoki KONO
Michio HASHIMOTO

Professor

Barrier Free

Project Associate Professor Hiromu KUMAGAI
Project Associate Professor

Eri AMASAWA

Project researcher

Hideki KIDOHSHI

Project researcher

Tatsusaburo KIMURA

Project researcher

Behgol BAGHERI

Social Science
Laboratory forInterdiciplinary Activities

Cooperation Company/Organization
ENEOS Corporation
Sumitomo Corporation

Cooperative Laboratories

Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
Kansai Electric Power Co.
JERA Co., Inc.
ACTREEWest Holdings CorporationSocial Cooperation
Research Departments

Komatsu Ltd.
Chiyoda Corporation
Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (Class NK)
Nippon Shokubai Co., Ltd.

Corporate SponsoredResearch Programs

We at the University of Tokyo aim to create an environment for research andeducation in which a diverse range of people can demonstrate their abilities
through strengthening social and international collaboration. We also believe thatuniversities should be the birthplace of the societal change needed to achieveboth Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and economic growth. In particular,
in order to achieve multiple SDGs at the same time, it is especially important todeliver universal sustainable energy.
In the Japanese government’s Basic Hydrogen Strategy, CO2-free hydrogen is
assumed to be produced from renewable energy sources. Considering therestrictions on the potential to introduce renewable energy in Japan (sunlight
hours, installable area, power grid, uneven distribution of consumption areas,etc.), we believe it is essential to build a ‘global network of renewable fuels’, inwhich hydrogen is produced and imported into Japan using renewable energy
sources such as solar and wind that can be obtained overseas at low cost and inlarge quantities. Already in Australia, governments and leading companies havelaunched a project to export renewable fuels, advocating the removal of coal-fired
power and the transformation of their industrial structure. Given the timing of thisglobal movement, it is appropriate for Japan, a country with developedhydrogen-related technologies, to proceed with industrial-academic-governmental
collaboration efforts regarding the import of renewable hydrogen. We believe it isnecessary to develop the technology to mitigate the cost of large-scale renewablehydrogen production in overseas countries rich in renewable energy resources
such as Australia, to create scenarios for introducing renewable fuels, and to
conduct research on the introduction and expansion of energy management
technology using hydrogen etc., all of which must be done while maintaining afavourable relationship with future renewable fuel-exporting countries.
One activity of this Social Cooperation Research Unit is to proceed with thetechno-economic analysis of large-scale renewable hydrogen production plants,
including photovoltaic power generation, referring to the results of hydrogenproduction currently underway both domestically and overseas. We will alsoconsider the manifold merits of renewable energy that cannot be assessed bysimple monetary value, consider measures for allowing renewable energy to beaccepted by society, and examine social system scenarios in which renewable
fuel provides the main source of energy. Furthermore, we will investigate regional
renewable energy management in areas with abundant renewable resources
which will serve as bases for exporting renewable energy to Japan in the future,and identify issues related to systems and policies for augmenting the production
potential of renewable fuels.

Information

Masakazu SUGIYAMAHitachi, Ltd.
Government of Queensland, Australia
Government of South Australia, Australia

Research Organization

https://www.reglobal.rcast.u-tokyo.ac.jp/

1 Let's bring the Australia's sunshine to Japan

2 Target energy system

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