News
2019.7.8 Mon
  • ALL

Cooperative agreement between Osaka University and Okoppe Town regarding biogas oxidation technology in biogas plants concluded

On Wednesday, June 26, 2019, the Institute for Open and Transdisciplinary Research Initiatives (OTRI) at Osaka University concluded a cooperative agreement with Okoppe Town in Hokkaido. This agreement matched the needs of Okoppe Town, which wanted to effectively use the biogas produced in the town, with technology held by Osaka University that can transform methane gas into useful substances such as methanol.

Under this contract, research and development will be conducted at Osaka University under the leadership of Professor OHKUBO Kei to develop technology that will yield a reaction to produce methanol and formic acid from biogas emitted from dairy cow manure.

Having previously worked in research and development of technology to induce a reaction using methane gas not containing impurities (pure methane), OU researchers will conduct verification tests to confirm the possibility of producing methanol and formic acid from biogas that contains about 40% carbon dioxide and discuss the optimization of reaction conditions.

Meanwhile, Okoppe Town will proceed with tests for introducing technology developed by Osaka University to the municipal Okoppe Hokko Biogas Plant with the assistance of scientific apparatus makers.

At the signing ceremony, OTRI Director YAGI Yasushi and Okoppe Town Mayor HAZAMA Kazutoshi signed the agreement and shook hands, affirming future cooperation between Osaka University and Okoppe Town.

Through this cooperative agreement, Osaka University will spread this newly-developed technology around the world, create new applications of biogas in previously untapped fields, and develop this research into brand new technology to expand the possibilities of biogas.

Reference links
• For more details on this technology and research, click here .
A Radical Approach to Methane Oxidation into Methanol
New Technology Presentation Meetings (JST)
• Press release materials can be found here .
• The homepage for Okoppe Town can be found here .

share !