Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Hiroshi Kajiyama stressed the importance of cooperation between Japan and the UAE in the field of carbon removal from fuels in a virtual meeting on Thursday.

The meeting, which took place with UAE’s Special Envoy for Climate Change Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber discussed the memorandum of cooperation on ammonia and carbon signed between the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in January this year.

Minister Kajiyama explained that Japan has a policy of supporting diverse and realistic energy transitions in Asia, including the clean use of fossil fuels. The Ministry and ADNOC agreed to work closely through meetings and other means. Specifically, it was agreed that the two countries would participate in the Asia Green Growth Partnership Ministerial Meeting scheduled to be held in October.

After the meeting, there was a signing ceremony of the Joint Investigation Agreement on ammonia fuel between Japanese companies and government agencies and ADNOC. It is expected that bilateral cooperation in the field of fuel ammonia will be accelerated in the future through the implementation of these projects.

According to a statement issued by the ministry in Tokyo, ADNOC has concluded a joint research agreement with the International Petroleum Development Corporation (INPEX) on the actual application of ammonia fuel. Japan’s Energy for a New Era (JERA), funded by TEPCO Holdings and Chubu Electric Power, and the Japan Petroleum and Natural Gas and Metal Mineral Resources Organization (JOGMEC,) will also participate.

In the meeting, Al Jaber, CEO of ADNOC, said that the Japanese companies participating in the project are significant partners for the UAE. The Japanese minister said they look forward to making efforts to secure supplies of ammonia fuel to Japan.

Ammonia does not emit carbon dioxide (CO2) during combustion, attracting attention as a clean decarbonized energy source. Catalyzed combustion of ammonia itself using recently developed technologies is said to produce only water and nitrogen gas. Kumamoto University claims to have solved the problem of NOx, pollutants result from burning ammonia, so that the exhaust is clean.

Under the study, ammonia is produced from natural gas in Abu Dhabi. Although carbon dioxide is generated during the ammonia manufacturing process, it will be captured, stored underground, and not released into the atmosphere. The research studies the possibility of commercial use of the low-carbon ammonia produced.