Japanese Government has set a goal of 50,000 kℓ (ethanol equivalent) domestic biofuel-production by 2011 and 6.00million kℓ by 2030. The biofuel is an gasoline alternative fuel. 6.00 million kℓ is 10% of current
gasoline consumption; Japanese government shows that “It is possible to produce 6.00 million kℓ biofuel in Japan”. The raw materials of biofuel assume wood/grass (rice straw, wheat straw), energy crops on abandoned farmland (rice, beet) and ligneous biomass (woody construction waste、forest residue because these biomass would not interfere with agriculture foods and feeds. Raw materials of domestic biofuel are shown in Table.

At present Self-Energy ratio “18% self-sufficiency of energy supply (included nuclear power generation) + 20% resources interests in foreign countries that Japanese Government and Japanese company hold” is 38% in Japan. On 28 April, 2010, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed a target to raise this ratio to 70% by 2030.

By expand domestic biofuel production, “Self-Sufficiency of Energy Supply” could be raised. For this aim, university / private company / institute promote to develop domestic biofuel production powerfully. Research and development results of domestic biofuel production by companies and institute in Japan were announced in succession recently. Recent topics of domestic biofuel research and development are shown in Table.

Table Raw Materials of Domestic Biofuel (FY 2030 : Unit 10,000kℓ)
「Source: Biomass Japan Strategic February 2007」

Raw Materials	Producing Amount（FY 2030）
	Ethanol Equivalent	Crude Oil Equivalent
1.Sugar, Starch (Byproduct of Food Processing, Irregular Agricultural Crops)	5	3
2.Wood, Grass (Rice Straw, Wheat Straw)	180〜200	110〜120
3.Energy Crops on abandoned farmland (Rice, Beet)	200〜220	120〜130
4.Ligneous Biomass (woody construction waste、forest residue)	200〜220	120〜130
5.For Biodiesel	10〜20	6〜12
Total	600	360

 

Fig. Target of Biofuel Production

Fig. Raw Material of Domestic Biofuel

Table Research/Development of Domestic Biofuel

Institute/Company	Development/Production of Domestic Biofuel
Nippon Steel Engineering Corp	19th April 2010, Announced「An experiment of bioethanol production from food waste has finished」 At Kitakyushu city, collect food waste by separation 10ton/day and produce bioethanol 500ℓ/day; and carry out the run examination by use E3 gasoline (3% bioethanol mixture gasoline).
AIST (Advance Industrial Science and Technology), Sugino Machine ,Ltd	13th April 2010, Announced「Crush / miniaturization technology of cellulose has developed with water jet」. The resolution efficiency of miniaturized cellulose to glucose by the saccharification enzyme improves to 6 times
Asahi Breweries, Ltd, National Agricultural Research Center for Kyushu Okinawa Region	13th April 2010、Announced「Technology of large quantity bioethanol production has developed with low cost as raw material of high-quality biomass sugar-cane. 」 High Quality biomass sugar-cane "KY01-2044" has 1.5 times yield and 1.3 times sugar yield compared it with before class.
Nippon Oil Corp, Hitachi Plant Technologies, Ltd, Euglena Co.,Ltd	8th March 2010、Announced「Euglena(0.1mm length) which is a kind of plankton will be cultivated in pond and swimming pool. Oil included in the body will be extracted and the oil is used as fuel for air planes.」 The euglena has high productivity with oil cost of 70 yen /ℓ.

 

Cf.
Biomass Japan Strategic (February, 2007 "Expansion of Domestic Biofuel Production in Japan), The Environmental News、Web-site: Nippon Steel Engineering Corp, Web-site:AIST(Advance Industrial Science and Technology) et al