Japan’s Rengo starts trial 2G bioethanol production

Japanese packaging firm Rengo has started a demonstration project to produce second-generation (2G) bioethanol, targeting 20,000 kilolitres/yr output by 2027.

2G bioethanol refers to ethanol made from non-edible resources such as biomass, while first-generation bioethanol is made from food resources such as sugarcane and corn. Rengo's subsidiary, Japanese pulp and paper producer Daiko Paper, and Tokyo-based bioethanol producer Biomaterial have started a demonstration project to produce bioethanol from unused biomass resources such as construction waste. The produced bioethanol will be used to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), Daiko Paper said. The project is funded by state-owned research institute Nedo.

Japan needs to develop technologies to ensure stable SAF production using domestic raw materials, in line with higher demand globally, as part of efforts to achieve decarbonisation by 2050. The country's trade and industry ministry Meti has set a goal to use 10pc SAF or 1.71mn kl/yr in domestic jet fuel consumption.

Meti has encouraged domestic SAF production to enhance national energy security. Tokyo plans to spend around ¥340bn ($2.3bn) over a five-year period from 2024-25 to develop SAF production, leveraging its green transformation (GX) economic transition bonds. The GX bonds will supplement the country's public-private investments in SAF production and its feedstock supply chains, which is estimated to require more than ¥1 trillion over a 10-year period from 2023-24.

By Reina Maeda