Osaka University ties up with town to turn manure into methanol using LEDs japantimes.co.jp - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from japantimes.co.jp Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Junichiro Ngasaki (Asahi Shimbun) 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.
Major industrial gas supplier Air Water Hokkaido Inc. and contractor Iwata Chizaki Inc., both in Sapporo, are also partnering with Okoppe and the university to establish the plant in the town located along the Sea of Okhotsk.
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.
牛のふん尿から液体燃料 CO2排出しない世界初の技術：朝日新聞デジタル asahi.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from asahi.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
「興部」←この地名、どう読むか分かる？ - コラム - Jタウンネット j-town.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from j-town.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.