On September 26, 2022, a proposal by a group including Professor Takao Nakagaki of Waseda University as PM (project manager), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering Co., Ltd., Kyoto Prefectural University, and Professor Tsutomu Sato Faculty of Engineering of our university was approved for national research and development. The project is part of the moonshot development research project "Moonshot Goal 4: Realizing sustainable resource circulation for global environmental regeneration by 2050" by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (hereinafter referred to as NEDO). The project was selected as "Development of weathering acceleration technology 'A-ERW' that utilizes the characteristics of rocks and the field."

In order to achieve carbon neutrality, weathering acceleration technology that captures and fixes CO2 from the atmosphere through the weathering process (carbonation) by crushing and dispersing rocks is attracting attention. However, the quantification of the carbon balance resulting from these activities and the measurement of the actual amount of immobilization were insufficient. By promoting weathering using a method suitable for the land in the area where it is applied, the new technology A-ERW can simultaneously achieve both (1) removing CO2 from the atmosphere and (2) providing resource circulation and co-benefits to the region. is. By converting and accumulating data on the mineralization rate of each rock and developing an information infrastructure, we aim to demonstrate highly accurate carbon accounting LCA both domestically and internationally, and to foster international consensus on the carbon accounting methodology that originated in Japan.

For more information on this selection, please click here. *You will be redirected to the university's core website.

Click here for more information on the Moonshot Development Research Project. *You will be redirected to the website of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).