The research activities and achievements of the JIRCAS Asia Biomass Project were exhibited at the Agro Innovation 2020 (Organizer: Japan Management Association) held at the Tokyo Big Sight Aomi Exhibition Hall from November 11th (Wed) to 13th (Fri), 2020. The event was a specialized exhibition for cutting-edge technologies and products related to the entire value chain of the Japanese agricultural industry. Countermeasures against the new coronavirus infection such as temperature measurement, wearing a mask and disinfecting were thoroughly implemented at the exhibition hall.

The JIRCAS exhibit consisted mainly of the research results on microbial saccharification technology utilizing unused biomass discharged from the oil palm industry in Southeast Asia including the joint research “Sustainable Replantation of Oil Palm by Adding Value to Oil Palm Trunk through Scientific and Technological Innovation” under the International Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS) in collaboration with IHI Corporation.

At the Biomass Expo Forum on November 12th (Thu), Dr. KOSUGI Akihiko, Project Leader in the Biological Resources and Post-harvest Division gave a talk on “a scenario for regional revitalization and local production / consumption by utilizing biomass toward sachieving environmental conservation and economic development”. The Forum was attended by more than 100 participants.

The number of visitors to the event was 5,806 in three days. Although the number was half that of last year due to the influence of the new coronavirus, the JIRCAS booth attracted more visitors than last year. In particular, there were many inquiries about the microbial saccharification technology developed by JIRCAS and the high-efficiency biogas production by the anaerobic effluent treatment system (IC reactor) developed by IHI Corporation.