Carbon Neutrality ＋ DX ＝ Future Society

Oct. 26 (Tue), 2021
Fujitsu ActivateNow @Online
Yuko Yasunaga, Ph. D
Head, Investment and Technology Promotion Office,United Nations Industrial Development Organization（UNIDO）

１．Carbon Neutrality and Japanese Industries (1)Japan’s CO2 Emission(2018)

World CO2 Emission
Ranking (2017)

・Energy Conversion
460 Mil. ton

1) China (28.2%)

2) USA (14.5%)

・Industry
280 Mil. ton

3) India (6.6%)
4) Russia (4.7%)

・Transportation
200 Mil. ton

5) Japan (3.4%)

・Office6) Germany (2.2%)

60 Mil. ton・Household
0.5 Mil. ton【Fig. 1】Japan’s CO2 Emission (2018) and World CO2 Emission Ranking（2017）（Source: METI）

２．Carbon Neutrality and Japanese Industries (2)Japan’s Total GHG(CO2)
Emission (2016)= 1,306,670 kt-CO2eq
1) Iron/steel (40%)2) Chemical (15%)3) Machinery (13%)4) Cement/Glass/Ceramics(8%)5) Pulp/paper (5%)

【Fig. 2】Breakdown of Japan’s CO2 Emissions from Industry（2016）（Source：National Inst. for Environmental Studies）

3. Four Directions for Achieving Carbon Neutrality
１) Decarbonization of Energy Supply Sector～ Promoting renewable energies, Fuel conversion（Fossil to Hydrogen）～

２) Decarbonization of Energy-intensive Industries～ Process innovation and development of substitute materials for,iron/steel, chemical, cement/glass/ceramic, and paper/pulp industries ～３) Social Structure Reform and Energy Conservation～ Office/school/home, transportation/logistics, supply of water/food/energy ～４) CO2 Fixation～ CCS（Carbon Capture and Storage）/CCUS(Carbon Capture, Usage, andStorage), CO2 absorption by forests and coral reefs, etc. ～4. Process Innovation for Energy-intensive industries
1) Iron/steel: Replace coke (C) by hydrogen (H) for reduction process→ Challenge: Complete replacement difficult because Hydrogen process is 吸熱反応

2) Chemistry: Establish Non-carbon(naphtha)-based Chemistry→ Is it possible to increase input of biomass-derived and recycled raw materials?
Challenges: Availability of raw materials/cost/energy input-output ratio （エネ収支）

3) Cement/glass/ceramics: Require new processes without high temp.
→ Challenges: CO2 can be utilized as raw material for cement? Increase inputs of recycled
raw materials? If manufactured under normal temperature, it is the ideal.
＞＞ Disruptive process innovation is required. AI and data science are indispensable.

【Ref.】R&D and Demonstration of New
Technology by Iron/steel Industry【Photo】Experimental/demonstration Furnace by a consortiums composed of iron/steel manufacturers and NEDO (＠Kimitsu）（Source：Iron and Steel Association of Japan HP）

5. Development of New Substitute Materials
１) Iron/steel: Is it possible to make buildings, railroads/roads andautomobiles without steel?
→ Requires alternative materials with strength, heat resistance, moldability and low cost2) Chemistry: Is it possible to realize non-carbon-based chemicalmaterials?
→

What is the primary element, if not Carbon?
Requires a paradigm change from the current academic /industrial structure of chemistry３) Cement/glass/ceramics:→

Glass, ceramic and cement are the most familiar materials in human’s history.
＞＞ Revolutionary product innovation is required. AI and data science are indispensable.
～ “Intelligent manufacturing“ without trial-and-error type of experimental research【Ref.2】R&D for New Materials with DX
Conceptual illustration of“Multi-scale computational
Material Design” by AIST
Vert. axis = time scale (sec)Horiz. Axis = dimension (m)- Quantum Chemistry/ First-principles calculation- Molecular Dynamics/ First-principles calculation- Coarse Graining Model- Fluid/continuum Mechanics+ Finite Element Method【Fig.3】Material design by computations illustrated by AIST Center for Computational Design of Advanced Functional
Materials（Source：AIST (Research Inst. of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology) HP）

6. Social structure reform (office/home/factory)
１) Do we really need "offices" and "schools"?
→ COVID-19 pandemic revealed remote work/education is possible for the “most”
of our workplaces and schools.

２) What shall we do for places where teleworking is difficult?
→ Factory: Robotization + IoT→ Logistics: Robotization + autonomous driving and mobility→ Primary industry sites: Robotization + IoT→ Shops: Robotization + AR+VR + delivery→ Science/engineering schools with laboratories (experiments) : AR+VR-assisted class＊Not every listed things need to be automated. However, it would reduce a considerable
amount of people’s flow and logistics. It is useful not only for protecting against
infectious diseases, but also for decarbonizing society.

DX is the key to the social reform.

7. Social structure reform (Social infrastructure)１) Transportation/logistics/community development→ Connecting “compact cities” (some thousands of people ?)→ EV as a mobility within a community, live-close-to-office or teleworking from home２) Water, food and energy supply→ A locally connected small grid based on renewable energies(For the time being, a large-scale infrastructure is necessary as a base power source.)→ Especially for water supply and food production, communities should be connected
to a large supply area.

３) Medical care, education, and other basic services→ Mainly remote operation, but with a large-scale and higher level facilities is required
within a certain distance.

DX is the key to the development and operation of these social infrastructures.

＊Now, you may be aware that

Carbon Neutrality + DX = Future Society
Thank you very much for your attention.