In Japan, The Asahi Shimbun reported that a consortium of a Japanese university and businesses will team up with a state government in Australia for a project to mass produce sustainable biofuel for airplanes.
The Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, which has expertise in cultivating pongamia oil trees, plans to start a demonstration experiment in Australia’s northeast state of Queensland by March, according to the report.
The report added that the project could receive an injection of up to $674 million from businesses, including those outside the consortium that have shown interest, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.
It also said that Pongamia oil trees, which are naturally distributed in Australia and Southeast Asia, produce oil-rich seeds that can be used as sustainable aviation fuel.
Kazuhiro Chiba, president of the university, said the project may expand in scale by covering more land and bringing in new facilities for mass production of pongamia oil.
“We will consider planting the trees in sprawling arid inland areas and abandoned mines in Queensland,” he said. “We picture a large-scale cultivation site for the trees, equipped with facilities to extract and produce oil, with Japanese businesses playing a key role.”
The Queensland state government is expected to cooperate with the university over use of land for the experiment, according to the report.
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Tags: Japan, pongamia, SAF
Category: Research
