In January 2021, Idemitsu participated as a member in the Wood Biomass Use Promotion Council started by Shunan City in Yamaguchi Prefecture. The council promotes the use of domestic wood biomass through pilot tests with the purpose of encouraging the local production and consumption of energy and revitalizing the forestry industry by leveraging the unique characteristics of Shunan City, which possesses both a wealth of forestry resources and biomass power generation facilities.
The council is studying expanding the use of domestic biomass in cooperation with participating companies and institutions through pilot tests using wood biomass from fast-growing trees in some of Shunan City’s forests. In addition to the shorter timelines and lower costs entailed in producing biomass from fast-growing trees, we expect lower transport costs thanks to the close proximity of local forests and consumption areas. Shifting to fast-growing trees will also contribute to the circular use of forest resources and the revitalization of the forestry industry.
In addition, based on these pilot tests, we aim to expand the production of wood biomass from fast-growing trees into other areas within the city. We will also discuss methods of using domestic wood biomass.
With the aim of supplying lower-carbon energy, Idemitsu is constructing biomass power plants on the sites of decommissioned refineries at the Tokuyama Complex.Going forward, Idemitsu and the Tokuyama Complex will work with Shunan City to promote the use of renewable energy and establish a local production and consumption model for energy.
In June 2021, Idemitsu concluded an alliance agreement with Saitama City to promote the use of renewable energy to realize a zero-carbon city (net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050).
Under the agreement, Idemitsu and Saitama City are cooperating in environmental and energy fields to promote the use of renewable energy within the city. We plan to develop services to purchase post-FIT (feed-in tariff) electric power generated by the city’s households and conduct maintenance on solar power systems. In addition, we will promote the local production and consumption of energy as we consider using the city’s post-FIT electric power and renewable energy resources at Saitama’s facilities and Idemitsu’s service stations under the new apollostation brand. As our affiliate Solar Frontier K.K. and NEDO* conduct joint research, we will study the application of solar panel recycling technologies and aim to realize a recycling-based society, or, in other words, a local recycling co-existence zone.
