1. The Cabinet of Japan Office announced the outline of the lunar landing type research and development system

2. Britain RedT energy will cooperate with Pivot Power to provide its energy storage project with a 2MW/5MWh Flow battery energy storage system

3. German researchers have found that MXene materials can help manufacture batteries that charge faster

Osaka Gas and Acacia Renewable jointly sign an offshore wind power generation agreement

5. The construction of the world's largest hydrogen production station using renewable energy to produce hydrogen has been completed

6. Several universities have cooperated to develop an ultra-thin Organic solar cell

7. Yamazaki Heavy Industries Successfully Installed Liquefied Hydrogen Tanks on the World's First Liquid Hydrogen Transport Ship

8.4M Carbon Fiber Company's new project can increase carbon fiber strength by 15% and double production

9. Asahi Kasei announced to withdraw from AS resin, Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and ACS resin business

1. The Cabinet of Japan Office announced the outline of the lunar landing type research and development system

Although some scientists in Japan win Nobel Prizes every year, the current problems such as the reduction of scientific research funds, the shortage of talents, and the decline in the ranking of high-quality papers are prominent. In order to further develop science and technology, Japan proposed to establish a "lunar landing type research and development system" from 2018, and in February 2020, it announced the outline of the "lunar landing type research and development system". The lunar research and development system is not a true lunar landing, but rather aims to achieve human happiness and solve multiple social, environmental, economic and other problems. The research and development system has set six future goals. Goal 1: By 2050, build a society that liberates people from the constraints of body, space, and time. Goal 2: Build a society for ultra early disease prevention by 2050. Goal 3: By 2050, artificial intelligence and robots will co evolve to create autonomous learning and action, symbiotic robots with humans. Goal 4: To achieve sustainable recycling of Earth's resources by 2050. Goal 5: By 2050, fully utilize biological functions to create a waste free and sustainable food supply industry. Goal 6: By 2050, complete the universal Quantum computer that is conducive to the leap forward development of economy, industry, security, etc.

2. Britain RedT energy will cooperate with Pivot Power to provide its energy storage project with a 2MW/5MWh Flow battery energy storage system

This week, the British energy storage company RedT energy announced that it would cooperate with the renewable developer Pivot Power to provide its Energy Superhub Oxford energy storage project in the UK with a 2MW/5MWh Flow battery energy storage system. Pivot Power said that this Flow battery energy storage system will be mixed with a lithium-ion battery energy storage system provided by the European Wärtsilä Group, which will create the world's largest hybrid energy storage project of lithium-ion battery and Flow battery, and also the largest Flow battery energy storage system deployed in the UK. The goal of the Energy Superhub Oxford energy storage project is to showcase the application of energy storage systems in fast charging of electric vehicles, hybrid battery energy storage systems, low-carbon heating, and smart energy management. This £ 41 million energy storage project will last for approximately 3 years, with some of its investment coming from the UK government's Industrial Strategy Fund. The chairman of RedT energy said that Flow battery technology will play a key role in such important projects as Energy Superhub Oxford, which is of milestone significance.

3. German researchers have found that MXene materials can help manufacture batteries that charge faster

Recently, scientists from the Berlin Energy and Materials Research Center (HZB) in Helmholtz, Germany, discovered that MXene materials will greatly improve the energy storage capacity of titanium based "MXene" pseudo capacitors (also known as pseudo capacitors), enabling the production of batteries with faster charging speeds. Scientists studied the carbon based MXene Ti3C2Tx material on the BESSY Synchrotron equipment, and analyzed the sample of the material in vacuum and aqueous solution using soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The analysis results indicate that inserting urea molecules into the MXene layer significantly changes the electrochemical performance of the material, increasing its energy storage capacity by 56%. Scientists said that the oxidation state of titanium atoms on the surface of Ti3C2Tx MXene can also be observed through X-PEEM (a test station in the Synchrotron facility). When urea exists, this Oxidation state is higher, which helps to store more energy. MXenes is a two-dimensional material first discovered in 2011 and an emerging field of interest for energy storage scientists. Although research on MXene materials is still in its early stages, they have shown strong potential in the field of energy storage.

Osaka Gas and Acacia Renewable jointly sign an offshore wind power generation agreement

Recently, Osaka Natural Gas and Acacia Renewable, a subsidiary of Macquarie Group, signed a cooperation agreement to jointly develop offshore wind power in Japan. The goal of Osaka Natural Gas Company is to develop 1 million kilowatts of renewable energy electricity domestically and internationally as soon as possible before 2030, and we look forward to overfulfilling it. The company is currently developing and operating renewable energy power of over 600000 kilowatts, with 8 onshore wind power plants (approximately 140000 kilowatts) in Japan. Acacia is Macquarie's renewable energy development platform in Japan, currently engaged in onshore and offshore wind power generation in Japan. In addition, Macquarie has established the first commercial offshore wind power station in Taiwan, China, formosa 1, about 12.8 kilowatts. We have also developed Formosa 2 and 3, among others, providing the largest 2.5 GW energy supply project in Taiwan. So far, the company has participated in 16 offshore wind power projects overseas.

In April 2019, Japan issued the "Law on Promoting the Utilization of Marine Renewable Energy Power Generation Equipment Construction Related Seas", which will comprehensively promote offshore wind power generation in the future. Osaka Natural Gas will work with Macquarie to study offshore wind power generation in Japan and make contributions to the popularization of offshore wind power generation in Japan.

5. The construction of the world's largest hydrogen production station using renewable energy to produce hydrogen has been completed

The "Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field (FH2R)", the world's largest hydrogen production station using renewable energy, built by NEDO, Toshiba Energy System, Tohoku Electric Power and Iwata Industries in Langjiang cho, Fukushima Prefecture County since 2018, was officially completed and started at the end of February.

Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research station uses 20MW solar power generation device and the world's largest 10MW hydrogen production device for hydropower decomposition, which can produce 1200Nm per hour ³ Hydrogen gas. The research institute adjusts the hydrogen production capacity based on the needs of the hydrogen prediction system and the power system to achieve a balance in the power supply system. This time, the production, storage, and supply and demand of hydrogen will be balanced through a hydrogen energy utilization system without the use of batteries. Therefore, the Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research station will test the optimal operation control technology that combines the power system demand with the hydrogen supply technology in the devices with different operation cycles in the future. In addition, the hydrogen produced is mainly used for power generation in fixed fuel cells, fuel cell vehicles, and fuel cell buses.

6. Several universities have cooperated to develop an ultra-thin Organic solar cell

Recently, Japan's Riken (RIKEN) took the lead in cooperating with the University of Tokyo, the University of California, Santa Barbara and Monash University in Australia to successfully produce an ultra-thin Organic solar cell, which is both efficient and durable. By using simple post annealing treatment, this flexible organic battery has a degradation rate of less than 5% under atmospheric conditions within 3000 hours, while the energy conversion rate (a key indicator of solar cell performance) can reach 13%. The researchers first used the semiconductor polymer developed by Toray Group as the main layer, and then tested a new idea, which is to use non Fullerene receptors to increase thermal stability. In addition, they also experimented with a simple post annealing process where the material was heated to 150 degrees Celsius after initial annealing at 90 degrees Celsius. This step is crucial as it enhances device stability by establishing a stable interface layer. Organic photoelectric is considered to be a new material that can replace traditional silicon based films. Ultra thin Organic solar cell can provide high power stably for a long time, and even can be used under harsh conditions such as high temperature and humidity. They are more environmentally friendly and can be produced cheaply, and can be widely used in wearable electronic devices, sensors in soft robots and other equipment products.

7. Yamazaki Heavy Industries Successfully Installed Liquefied Hydrogen Tanks on the World's First Liquid Hydrogen Transport Ship

On March 7th, Yamazaki Heavy Industries announced that the liquefied hydrogen tank of the world's first liquid hydrogen transport ship, "SUSO FRONTIER," was successfully installed at a grinding plant. In the future, the outfitting process of the ship's pipelines will be completed at the Kobe factory, and it is expected to be completed around October 2020. After assembly, the transport vessel will conduct sea trials off the coast of Japan and conduct technical demonstration tests on the international hydrogen energy industry chain to transport Australian liquid hydrogen back to Japan.

The liquid hydrogen tank uses a "vacuum insulated double shell structure", consisting of two hydrogen tanks stacked together, with a vacuum state in the middle. The internal hydrogen tank uses fiberglass reinforced material. This material can be used for the rotating blades of helicopters, which have high strength and can suppress heat conduction. The hydrogen tank also uses terrestrial liquid hydrogen tanks and ultra-low temperature cultivation technology of liquefied natural gas, with excellent insulation performance. Kawasaki Heavy Industries is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), actively building a hydrogen society, and is committed to the development of the whole industrial chain of "manufacturing", "storage", "transportation", and "use". And with the goal of achieving a hydrogen society, we will continue to promote the construction of liquefied hydrogen transport ships.

8.4M Carbon Fiber Company's new project can increase carbon fiber strength by 15% and double production

4M Carbon Fiber Corp., located in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, recently announced that they have completed a carbon fiber manufacturing demonstration project, proving that using the company's plasma oxidation technology to produce carbon fibers can increase the strength of carbon fibers by 15% while doubling production. The results indicate that the company has the ability to produce higher quality carbon fibers while sharing capital and operating costs more than three times the production capacity. 4M, together with Formosa Plastics Group in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in the United States, uses the international patented technology, atmospheric pressure plasma technology, jointly developed by 4M and ORNL, to oxidize Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor of Formosa Plastics Group, then carbonize, surface treat and size the fiber, and then test the carbon fiber using industrial test methods. The test results show that, The fibers produced using 4M oxidation technology have higher tensile properties than carbon fibers produced using the traditional process of using Formosa Plastics raw materials. Currently, 4M is exploring ways to license this technology to carbon fiber manufacturers.

9. Asahi Kasei announced to withdraw from AS resin, Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and ACS resin business

Recently, Asahi Kasei Company of Japan announced that it would withdraw from the business of styrene resin, AS resin, Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and ACS resin. This type of product is used for OA, home appliances, bicycles, etc. Asahi Kasei produced AS resin in Kawasaki factory in 1962, and has provided products for customers at home and abroad in Japan for 58 years. In 2015, due to a significant decrease in domestic market demand in Japan, the resin factory at Shuidao Manufacturing Institute was closed. At present, the company does not have an advantage in the ABS world market and its future strategic blueprint is not clear, so it has decided to withdraw from the business. At the end of March 2021, Asahi Kasei will stop the production activities and related business activities of AS Factory in Kawasaki Manufacturing. Employees engaged in this work should, in principle, be redeployed to other careers. In the medium-term business plan "Cs+for Tomorrow 2021", Asahi Kasei proposed to change the enterprise's business landscape and focus on the development of sustainable high value-added businesses by giving priority to the investment of business resources and redistributing businesses. Asahi Kasei will transfer its business resources to other businesses in the future