HOME | A Social Cooperation Research Unit A Global Network of Renewable Fuels (RE-Global) Social Cooperation Research Departments, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo

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2023/08/02　Launch of NEDO development project by Re-Global membersNew!

Three member companies participating in Re-global (JERA Co., Ltd., Nippon Shokubai Co., Ltd., Chiyoda Corporation) have been selected for the NEDO project and have started development.(Research）

2023/07/01　Government of South Australia joins REglobal membershipNew!

Government of South Australia(Invest SA, Department for Trade and Investment) joins our membership. We will continue to strengthen our partnerships.

2023/6/9,10　Exhibits on UTokyo Komaba Research Campus Open 2023

REglobal introduced the research and demonstrates the power supply from a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.
A concert by jazz pianist Sachiko Nakajimawas held in collaboration with the Advanced Education Outreach Lab (AEO).

Concert2023

2023/07/21　The 4th annual meeting in 2023

The 4th annual meeting in 2023 was held in a hybrid format.

2023/06/12　The 3rd annual meeting in 2023

The 3rd annual meeting in 2023 was held in a hybrid format.

2023/05/12　The 2nd annual meeting in 2023

The 2nd annual meeting in 2023 was held in a hybrid format.

2023/04/10　The 1st annual meeting in 2023

The 1st annual meeting in 2023 was held in a hybrid format.

2022/12/23 The 6th annual meeting in 2022

The 6th annual meeting in 2022 was held in a hybrid format.

2022/11/28 The 5th annual meeting in 2022

The 5th annual meeting in 2022 was held in a hybrid format.

2022/9/30 The 4th annual meeting in 2022

The 4th annual meeting and the steering committee in 2022 were held in a hybrid format.

2022/7/25 The 3rd annual meeting in 2022

The 3rd annual meeting in 2022 was held online.

2022/6/10,11　Exhibits on UTokyo Komaba Research Campus Open House

REglobal introduced the research and demonstrates the power supply from a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.
https://2022.komaba-oh.jp/event/3482
A concert by jazz pianist Sachiko Nakajima was held in collaboration with the Advanced Education Outreach Lab (AEO).

2022/5/15 The 2nd annual meeting in 2022

The 2nd annual meeting in 2022 was held online.
[Lecturer]Mr. Qiu Yizheng　(SHANGHAI DRAGON FLY ECO TECH CO., LTD，Overseas Environmental Cooperation Center, Japan)
[Title]2021 Trends in China's hydrogen energy industry

2022/4/18 The 1st annual meeting in 2022

The 1st annual meeting in 2022 was held online.

2020/11/24 Web talks with Minister Brenni of Queensland for renewable energy and hydrogen

Professor Sugiyama discussed the possibility of collaboration with Japan on expanding the introduction of renewable energy in Queensland. (Related page: [Collaboration])

2020/11/12 The 6th study session (Prof. Mitsuo Yamamoto: Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo)

[Lecturer] Prof. Mitsuo Yamamoto (Associate Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo)
[Title] "Coastal ecosystem conservation and global warming issues"

2020/11/3 Hikaru Kobayashi, RCAST Advisor Received The Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star

The autumn medal was announced, and Hikaru Kobayashi, RCAST Advisor, received The Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star.
(Related page: RCAST Advisor Hikaru Kobayashi's Room - News)

2020/9/30 Environmental Report 2020

An article introducing REglobal has been published in "Environmental Report 2020" of the University of Tokyo.
https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/content/400146657.pdf
(P.18 "Challenge to decarbonization by intercontinental transportation of overseas renewable energy resources")

2020/9/3 The 5th study session (Mr. Yasuhiro Muroishi: the Ministry of the Environment)

The 5th study session in 2020 was held on Webinar.
[Lecturer]
(1) Mr. Yasuhiro Muroishi (the Head of the Fukushima Regional Environment Office, Ministry of the Environment)
(2) Prof. Satoshi Ohara (Project Associate Professor, RCAST, The University of Tokyo)
[Title]
(1) "Looking back on the social and policy issues of past domestic bioethanol projects"
(2) "Hydrogen society from the failure of bioethanol"

2020/8/4 The 4th study session (Mr. Kazutaka Kuroda: The Japan Research Institute, Limited)

The 4th study session in 2020 was held on Webinar.
[Lecturer] Mr. Kazutaka Kuroda (Specialist, The Japan Research Institute, Limited)
[Title] "Irreversible trends in green finance"

2020/7/17 The 3rd study session (Dr. Tatsuo Kobayashi: Japan Center for Economic Research / Mr. Go Hibino: National Institute for Environmental Studies)

The 3rd study session in 2020 was held on Webinar.
[Lecturer]
Dr. Tatsuo Kobayashi (Principal Economist, Japan Center for Economic Research)
Mr. Go Hibino (Research Collaboration Coordinator in Center for Social and Environmental Systems Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies)
[Title] "Is it possible to change the future economy in terms of economic forecasting models?"

2020/7/3 The 2nd study session (Prof. Yasunori Kikuchi: Institute for Future Initiatives, The University of Tokyo)

The 2nd study session in 2020 was held on Webinar.
[Lecturer] Prof. Yasunori Kikuchi (Associate Professor, Institute for Future Initiatives, The University of Tokyo)
[Title] "Comprehensive Regional Implementation Model Leading the Construction of Sustainable Energy Systems"

2020/6/19 The 1st study session (Prof. Hikaru Kobayashi: RCAST, The University of Tokyo (Former Administrative Vice-Minister of the Ministry of the Environment)

The 1st study session in 2020 was held on Webinar. (230 participants)
[Lecturer] Prof. Hikaru Kobayashi (Former Administrative Vice-Minister of the Ministry of the Environment, Current RCAST Advisor of The University of Tokyo)
[Title] "What is the motor for social implementation of environmental measures?"

2019/3/15 Press release

Social Cooperation Research Unit "A Global Network of Renewable Fuels (RE-Global)", jointly with JXTG Energy Co., Ltd., Chiyoda Corporation, and Queensland University of Technology, produced organic hydride (*) at low cost in Australia and extracted hydrogen in Japan. The world's first technology verification was successful and a press release was made.
Press release　Related articles
* A kind of substance that can store and transport hydrogen, and it is easy to handle at room temperature and pressure.

2019/2/1 The first plenary session and the opening ceremony were held

The first plenary session and the opening ceremony were held and a press release was made.

2018/12/1 "A Global Network of Renewable Fuels" has been established

Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), The University of Tokyo, has established a Social Cooperation Research Unit, "A Global Network of Renewable Fuels".

Establishment of a Social Cooperation Research Unit "A Global Network of Renewable Fuels (RE-Global)"

Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), The University of Tokyo has established a "Global Network of Renewable Fuels" (*) on December 1, 2018 for the purpose of building a platform for social systems and basic technologies for global procurement of renewable energy. We promote open innovation based on an international industry-government-academia collaboration with eight companies, international academic partners and governments.

(*)‘Social Cooperation Research Unit’ refers to a department established at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo which uses expenses received from private institutions to conduct joint research into matters of high public interest. Unlike corporate-donated laboratories, it is established as a part of collaborative research.

Message from the president

In order to halt further global warming, we urgently need to promote the decarbonisation of our energy sources. Furthermore, the construction of a sustainable society requires the transition to renewable energy sources. Over just a few centuries, we have extensively used fossil fuels which took billions of years to produce. The most important challenge to those engaged in science and technology is the development of technologies and scenarios that allow our society to exit such a mismatch in the time constants between energy production and consumption, and create a new scheme in which the production and consumption of our energy sources take place in the same time scale.

Dissemination of solar and wind power generation has been accelerated on a worldwide scale, but these renewable electricity sources encounter difficulties matching electricity demands. Moreover, it is almost impossible to completely substitute fuel for mobility and industrial heat sources with renewable electricity. Such constraints require CO₂-free fuel which emits no CO₂ in its lifetime, from production to consumption. The ultimate form of this is fuel produced with renewable energy. At present, hydrogen is the most promising candidate for CO₂-free fuel, but there are several ways to produce CO₂-free hydrogen, including production using fossil fuel with CO₂ sequestered underground, and production using renewable energy.

Our mission is to establish an energy system which incorporates both renewable electricity and CO₂-free fuel at the optimal balance. Since the resources of renewable energy and the form of energy demand depend on the region, the energy system must be optimised to meet such regional characteristics. In some countries, biomass and biofuel can serve as readily available renewable fuels that can be used with the existing energy infrastructure, so long as they never compete with food production. However, for a country with limited bio-resources like Japan, decarbonisation requires CO₂-free hydrogen. In such a situation, the transition to a decarbonised energy system will necessitate a retrofitted energy infrastructure and a resultant rise in energy cost, and we need an affordable scenario to make such a transition possible towards 2050. The scenario should aim at an ultimate future in which energy demand is entirely met by renewable energy. However, in its early transition stage, we may use hydrogen produced from fossil fuel with CO₂ buried underground as a cost-effective option for CO₂-free fuel.

The importance of decarbonising the energy system in Japan is already emphasised by a lot of specialists, but I would emphasise the importance of collaboration with overseas countries. When we think over the balance between renewable energy resources and energy demands in Japan, it is clear that Japan needs to import CO₂-free fuel in order to satisfy the energy demand in urban regions. In addition, advanced renewable technologies that have been developed in Japan can potentially perform better in countries with more abundant renewable resources. It is therefore crucial for Japan to establish strategic partnerships with other countries that can export CO₂-free fuel in the future for the purpose of constructing a decarbonised energy system in Japan, targeting 2050. In such a partnership, the first stage will be to install renewable energy sources substantially in the partner country with high potential for renewables, using the advanced renewable technology that Japan has developed. At the next stage, mass production of renewable fuel will be possible in such countries. The renewable fuel must be used locally as the first priority and the massive surplus portion of the renewable fuel will be exported to Japan. Such international partnership will enormously expand the fraction of renewable energy sources in the worldwide energy portfolio, and will complete decarbonisation, making our energy system sustainable.

Our belief is that universities must take a leading role in promoting scenarios with international partnership. By presenting our vision from a non-profitable and politically neutral position, we must invite governments and companies, in both Japan and overseas countries, to participate in the grand challenge of global decarbonisation. The Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo has established a social cooperation research unit: “A Global Network of Renewable Fuels.” Private companies with a pioneering spirit kindly supported this establishment, and our unit, although small at this present start-up stage, will continue its collaborative activities to ignite the first movement towards an epoch-making transition in energy systems.