In this project, we will develop technologies to expand the scope of application of concrete that effectively utilizes CO₂. The CO₂ effective use concrete has already been put to practical use in some products, but its scope of application is limited. This is due to technical constraints such as “the process to absorb CO₂ is required in a tank filled with CO₂” and “concerns about rebar corrosion”. At this base, as empirical studies of carbonation technology for various concrete such as cast-in-place and reinforced concrete, we manufacture actual large-scale specimens and conduct various tests. In this project, we will strive for the social implementation of Carbon Recycling technology in the concrete field.

It has been required that we use CO₂ for producing chemical products in an effort to transform ourselves into a decarbonized society in the future. In line with this objective, our focus is now on attaining a synthesizing technique by using CO₂, to be more specific, a technology for synthesizing para-xylene, a raw material whose demand is expected to grow in the future due to its use for fiber production, etc., by using CO₂. This project aims to develop technologies for producing para-xylene by using the methanol being synthesized from CO₂ and H₂. The technologies include higher-performance catalysts for synthesizing methanol from CO₂ and H₂ as well as catalysts with an improved formation ratio of para-xylene, the useful product among the xylenes.

To establish a technology for effective utilization of CO₂ separated and recovered in next-generation thermal power generation, we developed a biorefinery technology called “Gas-to-Lipids Bioprocess” via two-stage fermentation, which consists of a process to generate acetic acid by immobilizing CO₂ and one to synthesize high value-added lipids and chemical raw materials from the acetic acid. While conducting bench-scale tests of individual and integrated manufacturing processes, we will evaluate their environmental impact, technological competitiveness, and feasibility and strive to establish the technology and manufacturing processes.

When supplied with CO₂ and light energy, microalgae fix carbon in various forms in their cells via photosynthesis. For this research theme, we breed marine microalgae using a combination of random mutagenesis and genome editing to create strains with high productivity. We develop high-density culture techniques using selected algal strains. Useful chemicals (EPA, fucoxanthin) are extracted from the biomass harvested from the large-scale cultivation. Using the residues after extraction of the chemicals, we develop bioplastics which enable long-term CO₂ storage . We aim to integrate these technologies to propose an algae biomass production system for power plants and various factories.

While generating CO by directly decomposing CO₂ using renewable energy and recovering the unreacted CO₂ as carbonate, we will conduct leading research on a new process for the direct synthesis of urea from CO. In other words, optimization of reaction conditions and reactor structure, as well as scale-up research, will be conducted for a reactor that efficiently decomposes CO₂ into CO using atmospheric pressure plasma (Reactor I), one that efficiently converts unreacted CO₂ into carbonate (Reactor II), and one that efficiently directly synthesizes urea from CO using atmospheric pressure plasma (Reactor III) to develop a novel CO₂ decomposition and reduction process and evaluate its feasibility.

Diamond electrode, a next-generation electrode material, has excellent durability and unique electrochemical properties, and can selectively and efficiently produce formic acid by electrolytic reduction of CO₂. In this project, we will integrate the elemental technologies for formic acid production by electrolytic reduction of CO₂ using diamond electrodes as well as its separation and recovery, and construct a laboratory-scale integrated system that can continuously produce formic acid. In addition, a bench-scale integrated system will be constructed to verify the feasibility of practical application.

In this research, we will develop catalyst and process technologies and review a social implementation model to produce Carbon Recycling LPG using Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, a method for synthesizing liquid fuels from carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Specifically, we will use carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which are emitted from power plants or are derived from biomass-based carbon dioxide, as source gases to 1) develop catalyst technology suitable for LP gas production by FT synthesis; 2) review the entire production process from source gas to LPG production, purification, and preparation; and 3) review an overall social implementation model from the procurement of raw materials such as biomass resources and storage/transportation of produced LP gas to the use of non-LPG products obtained through FT synthesis.

In this project, we will promote verification research on the synthesis of silicon carbide derived from industrial waste using CO₂ as a carbon source, with “the technology for synthesizing silicon carbide using CO₂ as a carbon source,” developed as the seed. The developed technology can synthesize silicon carbide while absorbing CO₂ and can produce SiC, a valuable material, by reacting silicon sludge, an industrial waste, with CO₂, thus contributing to the construction of an advanced recycling-oriented society (SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production) and promoting decarbonization.

In this project, we will conduct R&D on both the production and utilization of algae biomass. In the former, a cultivation system will be developed using solid surface cultivation for algae in the gas phase as an elemental technology, which is characterized by its ability to efficiently utilize CO₂ and sunlight and is expected to lead to a high-yield algae biomass production system. In the latter, R&D will be conducted for utilization technologies with steelmaking set for algae biomass purposes. On top of applying algae biomass only to the steelmaking process, we will also consider multifaceted utilization that combines multiple applications for each component. In addition, a search for algae strains with superior usability will be conducted in parallel.