Okoppe Mayor Kazutoshi Hazama, second from left, Osaka University professor Kei Okubo, third from left, and others sign an agreement in Sapporo’s Chuo Ward on Feb. 9 to set up a test plant in Okoppe, Hokkaido. (Junichiro Nagasaki)
SAPPORO--The feces and urine of thousands of Hokkaido dairy cows may soon power facilities prefecture-wide with a world-first technology invented in Japan that converts them into environmentally friendly liquid biofuel.
Kei Okubo, an organic photochemistry professor at Osaka University, developed the technology, which produces methanol and formic acid that emits zero carbon dioxide (CO2).
Okubo on Feb. 9 signed an agreement with Kazutoshi Hazama, the mayor of Okoppe, Hokkaido, and other parties to set up a test plant in Okoppe within two years as a new business.