Weekly Japanese Industry and Policy News (August 18-August 24, 2023)

The EU-Japan Centre is pleased to start a new weekly service by publishing brief summary of the latest information from the Japanese governmental organizations & private companies/organizations. A couple of minutes reading to be informed about what is happening in Japan's policy, economy, EU-Japan relations, and innovation.

*Information is deemed correct at the time of release. 

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to start CO2 recovery test at existing cement plant in Alberta, Canada
On August 17, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) announced that it has installed a compact CO2 recovery system, CO2MPACT™, for an existing cement plant in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, owned by Heidelberg Materials (headquartered in Germany), one of the world's leading cement manufacturers, and that the two companies have started full-scale CO2 recovery demonstration tests using CO2MPACT™.

In this demonstration test, MHI and the Kansai Electric Power jointly developed a proprietary CO2 recovery technology "Advanced KM CDR Process™" and absorption liquid "KS-21™" to test different exhaust gas properties and a wide variety of plant conditions. Various verifications are performed for the operation mode. In Canada, a partnership between Heidelberg Materials, the Government of Canada and the Province of Alberta is planning the world's first full-scale CCUS (Carbon dioxide Capture, Utilization and Storage) solution for the cement industry.

Through this demonstration test, Heidelberg Materials will further solidify its vision of leading the decarbonization of the cement industry. On the other hand, MHI Group will utilize its own CO2 recovery technology to strongly promote the CCUS business and contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale as a solution provider.

MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES (MHI) website:
https://www.mhi.com/news/23081702.html

AIST develops sensing technology to determine freshness of fish meat from odor
The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) announced on August 21 that it has developed sensing technology that determines the freshness of fish meat from its odor, modeled on yellowtail.

Raw fish such as sushi and sashimi are becoming more popular worldwide, and fresh marine products are air-freighted overseas from Japan in a chilled state. Overseas, there are few craftsmen who are familiar with raw fish, and it is difficult to distinguish between raw fish and cooked fish, so most of the fish are handled by Japanese stores. In order to expand the export volume of Japanese marine products, it is necessary to have an objective quality indicator and its measurement method. K value has been proposed as a freshness index for fresh marine products. However, fish meat must be collected, and chemical measurements to derive the K value require special skills and a certain amount of time. 

AIST adopted and developed an odor determination method as a new sensing technology. It is a non-destructive test that does not require the collection of fish meat because it targets fish odors. AIST, in collaboration with the Hokkaido Industrial Technology Center, analyzed the odors of fish meat according to the degree of freshness, and created a simulated freshness index gas based on the results. Using the measurement results of the indicator gas as learning data, machine learning was used to determine the freshness of the actual fish meat based on its odor. It is expected that this sensing technology will be used by overseas importers of Japanese marine products in the future, and will eventually lead to the expansion of exports of Japanese marine products.

AIST website:
https://www.aist.go.jp/aist_e/list/latest_research/2023/20230821/en20230821.html

Famous AI researchers from Google launch new AI company in Tokyo
Major media such as Reuters Japan and Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on August 18 that two prominent artificial intelligence (AI) researchers from Google had launched a new AI company, “SAKANA AI”, in Tokyo on August 17. Of the two, Llion Jones is one of the authors of the 2017 Google paper "Attention is all you need." The paper is known for introducing a deep learning architecture called “Transformer,” which became the basis of development competition for chat GPT and various generative AIs, and brought about the so-called “generative AI revolution.” After working as a researcher at Google Brain, Google's AI development division, Jones was the head of research at Stability AI.

According to a Reuters report, he said that “SAKANA AI” will focus on building a new architecture for the base model. Another, David Ha, said it was still one of the ideas for the new company. It would be possible to have a data set and cooperate with each other to solve the problem (Reuters). According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the company name of “SAKANA AI “is derived from the Japanese word for FISH, and the reason for choosing Japan as a place to start a business is the fact that the competition to acquire human resources for generative AI is heating up in the United States. For the moment, there is no official information other than their post on the X (Twitter) .

SAKANA AI X(Twitter):
https://twitter.com/sakanaailabs

Marubeni and Osaka Gas to produce methane in Peru
Marubeni Corporation and Osaka Gas announced on August 21 that they have begun a study to produce 60,000 tons of environmentally friendly synthetic methane (e-methane) per year in Peru. It is equivalent to 1% of city gas supplied by Osaka Gas in one year. They will continue to study the conditions of raw material procurement and the specifications of the manufacturing plant, and aim to sell mainly to Japan from 2030.

e-Methane is made by recovering CO2 emitted during the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and synthesizing green hydrogen produced with electricity derived from renewable energy. Based on the survey conducted from 2022, it was determined that there is a possibility that sufficient renewable energy and CO2 necessary for manufacturing can be procured.

It is envisioned that the existing facilities of the Peru LNG plant, in which Marubeni has a stake, will be utilized. Japan plans to increase the ratio of e-methane contained in city gas to 1% in 2030 and 90% in 2050, and demand is expected to increase.

Marubeni website:
https://www.marubeni.com/en/news/2023/release/00087.html

ALPS treated water, the government decided to start releasing on August 24
Concerning the plan to dilute the treated water accumulated at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and to release it into the sea (ALPS treated water), the government decided at a meeting of related ministers to begin releasing it on August 24, provided that weather conditions do not interfere. The Ministerial Meeting was held at the Prime Minister's Official Residence on August 22, attended by Prime Minister Kishida and Minister of Economy, Trade (METI) and Industry Nishimura.

In this context, Prime Minister Kishida said that the government continued to explain to other countries about the release of treated water, based on the fact that the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) issued a report last month which concluded that safety standards were met.

He then said, "It is important to continue to communicate with fishermen on an ongoing basis and I instructed the relevant ministries and agencies to take thorough measures”. In addition, bearing in mind that China is moving to restrict the import of Japanese marine products, he also clarified his intention to strengthen support for expanding domestic consumption and developing overseas sales channels.

Prime Minister’s office website (in Japanese):
https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/101_kishida/actions/202308/22hairo_alps.html

MOFA website:
https://www.mofa.go.jp/press/release/press5e_000031.html

Safe delivery of toxic ammonia fuel between ships
Nippon Yusen (NYK) and TB Global Technologies (TBG) announced on August 17 that they have agreed to jointly develop bunkering boom for ammonia fuel for the first time in Japan. TBG which has the top share in the domestic market for cargo handling equipment for liquids such as crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG). By adopting TBG's technology that reliably prevents liquid leakage which is the biggest issue in ammonia fuel supply, it does not emit carbon dioxide (CO2) even when combusted. 

A bunkering boom consists of steel pipes and hoses, and is a device that supplies fuel from a fuel supply ship to a ship. As it is a steel pipe, it is highly durable, and the direction can be freely changed by the joints called swivel joints, making it easy to operate. In this development, they adopted TBG's technology to prevent the liquid inside from leaking out when the bunkering boom is urgently separated from the ship due to natural disasters, etc.

NYK line website:
https://www.nyk.com/english/news/2023/20230817.html