February 03, 2023
Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. announced on January 19 that it has become the first Japanese energy company to invest in Global Thermostat (GT, headquartered in Brighton, Colorado), an American company with advanced technology for direct atmosphere capture (DAC) of carbon dioxide (CO2), through its subsidiary, and has signed a basic agreement for collaboration with the company. DAC is the first Japanese energy company to invest in Global Thermostat, Inc.
DAC is attracting worldwide attention as a negative emission (Note 1) technology because it directly captures CO2 from the atmosphere, and is considered to be a technology that will contribute to the realization of net zero CO2 emissions in the future.
GT has advanced DAC technology, as it has been introducing DAC in a project to produce synthetic fuel (e-fuel) produced using CO2 and hydrogen derived from renewable energy sources. The company has also been developing DAC technology related to its proprietary solid adsorption method (Note 2) for more than 10 years in order to efficiently treat large volumes of air and reduce CO2 capture energy costs.
Tokyo Gas plans to conduct Japan's first CO2 recovery test using GT's DAC technology and to promote the practical application of DAC. In the future, the company plans to develop a new decarbonized energy business by utilizing CO2 captured by DAC for methanation and CO2 capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) in Japan and overseas.
Mr. Kentaro Kimoto, Senior Managing Executive Officer and General Manager of Digital Innovation Division of Tokyo Gas said, "We are convinced that GT's DAC is a necessary technology for the transition to a decarbonized society, and through collaboration with GT, we will work to develop solutions in the decarbonization field to achieve the 'net zero CO2' goal set forth in the group management vision "Compass 2030. We will continue to develop solutions in the field of decarbonization in order to achieve the "Net Zero CO2" goal set forth in the Group's Compass 2030 management vision.
Tokyo Gas has been working on decarbonization initiatives in the U.S., and in November 2022, it will join with Osaka Gas, Toho Gas, and Mitsubishi Corporation in a joint project to produce synthetic methane (e-methane) in Texas and Louisiana in the U.S., and to build an LNG plant in the Cameron LNG terminal, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipping and receiving terminal, and other facilities. The company announced that it has started studies for the liquefaction and transportation of e-methane utilizing the existing LNG supply chain, as well as the introduction of e-methane to Japan in 2030.
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