Environment and Energy

[ Overview ]

In order to promote “green innovation,” in which efforts are made to achieve compatibility between economic growth and the environment in order to realize a low-carbon society, it is necessary to decrease the energy consumption of energyusing equipment such as home appliances and vehicles. High levels of safety and environmental compatibility must also be assured from the perspective of daily life. We are conducting research, from the level of materials through to systems, aimed at reducing the energy and resource consumption of new small mobile power supplies, including secondary batteries and fuel cells, as well as lighting and other appliances.

[ Overview ]

We are conducting research to address environmental issues such as deterioration of the living environment and health due to hazardous chemicals and global warming in order to harmonize our industrial activities with a safe and secure environment. The areas that we are focusing on include 1) development of next-generation environmental diagnostic technologies upgrading conventional environmental measurement techniques with bio- and nanotechnology; 2) development of technologies to reduce health risks from hazardous chemicals in the air, water, and soil in an energy- and resource-efficient manner; 3) development of compact recycling technologies to increase recycling rates in urban areas where huge wastes are generated; and 4) research on carbon cycling, which will contribute to the prevention of global warming, and on assessment methodologies for evaluation of CO₂ emission reduction technologies.

[ Overview ]

The ultimate goal in the field of environmental chemical technology is to develop technologies to selectively produce desired products using recyclable resources and minimum energy but without generating wastes. Current industrial technology systems are based on accumulation of technologies developed previously. Therefore, the innovation of industrial technologies requires huge costs and a long period of time. We are engaged in the research and development of innovative industrial technologies to achieve the ultimate goal described above from a long-term perspective, and of technologies to reduce the environmental load in existing industries and improve energy efficiency from a short-term perspective. In the longer term, we aim to develop technologies to produce chemical products from bio-feedstock with a view to introducing recyclable resources. In the short term, we conduct the research and development of technologies to produce high value products, as well as green sustainable chemistry (GSC) technologies and process efficiency improvement technologies.

[ Overview ]

We are conducting research and development in the following four areas to prevent global warming and ensure the supply and use of stable and easy-to-use energy sources.

• Clean technologies such as the use of natural energy sources, the production and high-density storage of hydrogen, and the cleaning of hydrocarbon resources
• Energy device and material technologies to develop high-performance solid oxide fuel cells, thermoelectric devices, and energy-storage capacitors, using advanced energy materials
• An energy network to achieve high efficiency of energy use by combining various energy sources, energy storage and transportation technologies, high-efficiency power conversion technologies, and power system control technologies
• Innovative and emerging energy technologies to realize breakthroughs

[ Overview ]

In our research, we are pursuing the science for the sustainability of society as well as commonly used safety from physical hazards and risks. This is because there are increasing cases of safety and social sustainability issues having a trade-off relationship and we are not in a situation to address only individual safety issues. We are conducting research on safety evaluations to meet the demand for a safer society and present scientifically accurate guidelines for solving multiple tradeoff issues based on the results of these evaluations. We are also disseminating the results of these evaluations to help the public, communities, industries, governments, and international organizations make rational decisions and develop realistic standards, thereby contributing to the strengthening of Japan's industrial competitiveness.

[ Overview ]

Hydrogen is expected to be the next-generation clean energy source with lower pollution and CO₂ emissions and to make a significant contribution to Japan's energy security. Before hydrogen becomes widely used, however, there are many research problems to be solved such as characterizing its properties in a high-pressured or liquefied state, and clarifying the mechanism of hydrogen embrittlement that causes materials to degrade. Our goal is to scientifically investigate phenomena concerning hydrogen and various materials and build database for industry, and to develop technical guidelines for safe, reliable and economic use of hydrogen.

[ Overview ]

Global energy demand has shown rapid growth in recent years, giving rise to concerns over unstable oil supplies. There is also an increasing need for significant reductions in CO₂ and other greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, it is essential to reduce hazardous substances in vehicle exhausts as much as possible to protect air quality. Under these circumstances, in order to promote the widespread use of new green vehicle fuels (clean fuels of biomass origin and fossil origin), improve vehicle energy efficiency, and make vehicle exhaust gases super-clean, we are integrating individual pioneering technologies, conducting comprehensive technology development in close collaboration with industry, developing fuel standards essential for the widespread use of new fuels, and standardizing methods for measuring and evaluating vehicle exhaust emissions. We are also developing an international network of researchers by inviting domestic and international researchers, dispatching researchers, and conducting collaborative research, and are working to serve as an innovation hub to disseminate new fuel and vehicle technologies and related basic technologies.

[ Overview ]

In the global shift to low-carbon fuels, natural gas is a fossil fuel with good environmental performance and its use is therefore increasing globally in industrialized and other countries. In order to ensure a secure long-term supply of natural gas, improve the self-sufficiency of natural gas supplies, and enhance the energy efficiency of natural gas application technologies, we are conducting research and development of production technologies to securely and economically extract natural gas from methane hydrate resources, develop natural gas transportation and storage technologies making use of the physical properties of gas hydrates, and develop commercialization technologies. We are also serving as a global center to promote technology transfers and human resource development for the prompt commercialization of technologies developed through AIST's researcher invitation programs and methane hydrate development projects.

[ Overview ]

Under the AIST's mission statement, i.e. “Contribution to a sustainable society” we are aiming at process innovations in chemical and the related industries. Our main objective is to develop simple and compact production systems which provide varieties of products with adequate quantities, contributing to efficient energy use and low environmental impact, and finally to establish a recycling based industrial structure. To achieve this goal we are investigating the following three core technologies, particularly mutual integration of these technologies: 1) high-temperature high-pressure chemical engineering, 2) inorganic material processing technology and 3) integrated reaction systems. We are also making use of AIST's network to achieve our research objectives. Through our consortium activities we are contributing to local communities by reducing the environmental load of the manufacturing industry, creating new additional value of their products and the local resources.

[ Overview ]

Power electronics, represented by inverters used in home appliances and industrial equipment, is a key technology to control electric energy, and is currently based on silicon power devices. However, their performance limits will be revealed. Our goals are to develop wafer technology of widegap semiconductors such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) and their power device technology; to extend such technologies to a power electronics integration technology consisting of circuit, module/packaging, and control that makes full use of the performance of widegap semiconductor devices; and to make a breakthrough for the current performance limits by making optimal use of this system. The ultimate goal is to establish fundamentals of novel electronics for energy handling.

[ Overview ]

Research Center for Photovoltaic Technologies is aiming a sustainable development of photovoltaic technologies to realize the national energy security, low carbon society, economic growth and job creation at the same time with a comprehensive and systematic approach. To this end, we are investigating
1) device and system technologies under the intimate collaboration with private sectors,
2) primary reference cell calibration and neutral characterization of devices and systems,
3) fundamental researches for next-generation innovative devices. We are also emphasizing the international standardization and regional collaboration of the outcome of our research.