By KENJI IZAWA/ Staff Writer
November 23, 2023 at 07:00 JST
Tokyo Gas Co. unveils a device used for its new carbon recycling service to produce a material for soap and fertilizers in Tokyo's Arakawa Ward on Oct. 25. (Kenji Izawa)
Tokyo Gas Co. has started a carbon recycling service with a device that can create material for soap and fertilizers from gas emissions.
However, the company must overcome a number of technical challenges before it can spread the use of the device and create a decarbonized society.
One problem is the high introduction cost. Another is the fact that the device can recover only a small amount of CO2 from the gas emissions.
For now, the company expects to install several units annually.
Tokyo Gas spent two years improving the device, which was originally developed by a Canadian company.
The machine is 85 centimeters wide, 200 cm deep and 190 cm tall.
When the device incorporates gas emissions, a chemical reaction stimulated from the heat can turn 75 kilograms of potassium hydroxide into 100 kg of potassium carbonate in about a week.
Potassium carbonate is a raw material in various industrial products, such as soap and fertilizers.
The device, mainly targeted at factories, can reduce CO2 by about 20 percent compared with conventional production processes for potassium carbonate.
Tokyo Gas intends to receive basic fees for the use of the device and will sell the resulting potassium carbonate to manufacturers.
It intends to reduce the production cost of potassium carbonate and explore sales channels.
“We can also expect the device to be introduced at commercial facilities and elsewhere that have limited space for installation,” a Tokyo Gas representative said.
The Japanese government is encouraging efforts to generate resources from CO2 known as carbon recycling.
Under an industry ministry road map, Japan can expect carbon-recycled products to become available in or around 2030 while their usage will expand in or after 2040 through cost reduction efforts.
“We want to move on anything feasible as quickly as possible and make it the first step to promote carbon recycling," the representative said.
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