Air Water Inc. announces that the Company has applied to participate in the International project for the demonstration of Japan's technologies to contribute to decarbonization and energy conversion (Survey on conformity of demonstration requirements) in FY2023. The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (hereinafter "NEDO") solicited applications for this project and selected Air Water Inc. as an implementation candidate on October 13, this year.
The goal of this demonstration project is to establish a local production and local consumption-oriented supply chain model for carbon neutral energy in India, which has one of the largest cattle populations in the world*1and has significant potential in terms of bio-methane manufacturing. The Company plans to manufacture bio-methane and promote use of fermentation residue by using livestock excreta, agricultural wastes and other unused resources, as material and by leveraging its strength, the methane fermentation technology.
The Company strives to build a supply chain model of carbon neutral energy through utilization of the unused resources in India positioned as a focus area for the whole Group, through this inspection project.
1. Background and Concept
The Company is working to build a supply chain model for refining the methane contained in livestock excreta-derived biogas and supplying it as bio-methane as a substitute for LNG, as fuel for plant operations, ships, rocket fuel, etc. This project is being developed in Tokachi, Hokkaido, which is one of the largest dairy production areas in Japan, in collaboration with the dairy farmers in the region, the local governments and companies, aiming at achieving commercialization in FY2024.
Meanwhile, positioning India as a focus area that has significant potential for economic growth, the Group aims to achieve continued growth by developing the wide range of Group's business and technologies in the medical, environment/energy, food and other fields while obtaining a solid position as an industrial gas manufacturer moving towards the future.
India is the third largest emitter of CO2 due to energy usage after China and the United States. It is expected that progress will be made in the introduction of renewable energy sources with consideration to environmental friendliness. Although livestock excreta is currently ued as compost and fuel tablets, the introduction of the fermentation technology can reduce greenhouse gas emissions approx. 80%*2in comparison with composting. At the same time, the fermentation residue can be used as fertilizer. Moreover, agricultural and food waste can also be used as materials for methane fermentation. These initiatives are expected to contribute to society in peripheral ways as well, beyond decarbonization and energy conversion and including contributions to the reduction of air pollution and water contamination. It will produce alternative income streams in rural areas through the purchase of livestock excreta from dairy farmers.
Now, the Company has been selected for the survey on conformity of demonstration requirements designed to verify the plausibility of the demonstration and the possibility of wide adoption. Going forward, the Company will exchange opinions with the Indian government, the country's private sector, dairy farmers, etc. to move forward with implementation.
*1. Reference: "Census of cattle 2021" and "Census of buffalo/bison 2021" taken by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
*2. Reference: Takahiro Ono, Toru Furuichi, Noboru Tanigawa, Kazuhide Ishii; Study on the reduction of odor and greenhouse gas in association with the composting/biogasification of livestock excreta, Proceedings of the 17th Annual Conference of the Japan Society of Waste Management Experts 2006, Hokkaido University, p.376, 2006.
- 拡大
- (Business image)
2. Outline of the Inspection Project
Name of the project: Demonstration research for a system of manufacturing bio-methane from unused resources for the creation of a local bio-energy supply chain. (India)
Period: From October 13, 2023 to September 30, 2024 (Survey on conformity of demonstration requirements)
If the project is found to be promising as a demonstration research project in the screening stage, it will progress to the pre-demonstration survey stage.
[Contact for inquiries]
Corporate Communications, Air Water Inc. E-mail：info-h@awi.co.jp
