Bringing about revolutionary changes in business and society with biomass resources at the core
Updated by Masafumi Adschiri on June 12, 2025, 2:04 PM JST
Tadafumi AJIRI
Tohoku University
D. in 1986 from the Department of Chemical Energy Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo. 1989 Research Assistant, Department of Biochemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Tohoku University. 2002 Professor, Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials (IMRAM). 2007 Professor, WPI Advanced Institute for Materials Research. He has served as President of the Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan, and President of the International Society for Hydrothermal Solvothermal Research. Awards received include the Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2028. Specializes in chemical engineering and supercritical engineering.
The most important aspect of carbon neutrality is the attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One of the most promising areas in terms of the circular economy of forests is the utilization of biomass resources. As a member of the Platinum Forest Industry Initiative, Professor Masafumi Adschiri of Tohoku University has made many proposals from the standpoint of his specialty, chemical engineering.
Mr. Adschiri, who originally specialized in chemical engineering and served as president of the society, said that forest circular economy was a field that was "out of his field," so to speak.
"When I was president of the Society of Chemical Engineers in 2018-2020, we had a deep discussion about the future of the chemical industry, which led directly to our turning our attention to the forests, specifically our role in helping the chemical industry to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. We are now rediscovering our role in the chemical industry as we consider how we can help it become carbon neutral by 2050.
As in other industrial fields, "engineering" is a behind-the-scenes discipline that examines the various factors that govern the inputs and outputs of a single production process (plant) and their algorithms in terms of time and cost, with the goal of pursuing a better system. Chemical engineering has a history of playing a leading role in the design of petroleum refinery plants, which were central to the shift in the first half of the 20th century from coal to petroleum as the mainstay of industry, the expansion of plastic and synthetic fiber production, and the explosive motorization of gasoline-powered vehicles.
In the 1970s, in the wake of the oil crisis, our predecessors in chemical engineering proposed methodologies for solving problems from an academic standpoint, such as switching from coal to gas fuels and oil alternatives, and purifying air and water to deal with pollution problems. That is why we have a strong sense of mission that it is our role to think about the future of the chemical industry toward a carbon-neutral future.
The current chemical industry uses petroleum as a raw material to produce plastics and various other chemical products, which are ultimately burned after use to produce global warming-causing CO2. This can be reduced by (1) recycling waste plastics to reduce the amount of combustion, (2) utilizing carbon-neutral biomass resources, and (3) using CO2 as a raw material to react with hydrogen to produce chemical raw materials for CCU (Carbon Capture and Utilization). Expectations are high for the promotion of the use of biomass resources, especially forest resources.
Petroleum and plastics are, simply put, things that have the structure CH2. In contrast, wood, a plant, absorbs water (H2O) and CO2 using the energy of sunlight to store cellulose and hemicellulose (C6H10O5) and lignin, which can be extracted and transformed in various ways to become an alternative resource to oil, which is the basis of biomass utilization technology. Similar processes are possible with waste food and other materials, and forest resources are important in that they have a large quantitative impact."
Biomass resources can be utilized using techniques from the paper industry. In addition to chips used directly as material, lumber scraps and sawdust are treated with high-temperature alkali in a steaming oven to dissolve lignin, leaving cellulose components (including hemicellulose). Cellulose has the structure of glucose (C6H12O6), which is made up of linked sugars, and can be decomposed and fermented into ethanol (C2H6O), which can be used as an alcoholic fuel.
Lignin, which is produced in the process of steaming, is called black liquor, and paper mills have long used it to recover energy by burning it to generate electricity and recover heat. Pulp, the raw material for papermaking, is a cellulose component itself, and biomass chemistry aims to use it as a raw material. It is also known that lignin contained in Japanese cedar trees, which are abundant in planted forests in Japan, has a structure similar to that of phenol resin, which is used in chemical products.
Instead of this component separation, they have a simpler method of extracting oil components by pyrolysis at high temperatures. Sand heated to a high temperature is fed into the pyrolysis tower, and biomass, the raw material, is added and heated rapidly to produce oil and gas. The carbon content that precipitates at the same time provides the heat necessary for pyrolysis.
The heat is applied at a temperature of 600 to 900 degrees Celsius, and the components, just like the wood vinegar that is released during charcoal making, are used as fuel and chemical raw materials. In a similar plant, a catalyst called zeolite is used instead of sand. In this case, the oil produced is decomposed on the catalyst and converted into a chemical raw material called olefin. In this case, the oil produced is decomposed on the catalyst into olefins, a chemical raw material, and chemical raw materials such as benzene, toluene, and xylene BTX are also obtained. In addition, a technology that does not precipitate carbon and increases oil yield by cracking biomass in supercritical or subcritical water at high temperature and high pressure has been put to practical use, and a large-scale pilot plant is now in operation overseas.
Of course, not all of them are good. Currently, these oils contain a large amount of oxygen-containing compounds, which require appropriate post-treatment before they can be used as fuels or raw materials for petrochemicals. However, according to Mr. Adschiri, the most pressing issue to be solved lies elsewhere.
In the case of promoting industries based on biomass resources, Japan today has the foundation to quickly develop the necessary technologies. However, implementation as an industry is inevitably limited within the narrow scope of a single company or a single field of industry. For example, in terms of resource procurement, which is difficult for a chemical company alone, the supply chain must function effectively by having waste disposal companies, lumber manufacturers, construction companies, etc. work together with each other."
The concept of a large industrial complex, rather than just companies in the same or neighboring industries, will expand the circle of mutual supply of resources, waste heat, and by-products. If the upstream forestry industry is also taken into consideration, the foundation of the project will be further strengthened.
In the world of engineering, this kind of thinking is called "expanding the boundary. Even if a solution cannot be found within the narrow confines of the chemical industry, a solution can be found by expanding the boundary to include other industries. And then a new industry and a new society can emerge. In fact, under the banner of a major reform of the Shunan Industrial Complex in Shunan City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, a new industrial complex concept using waste, forest resources, and some CO2 as raw materials has been launched and is already underway. In the future, the waste industry will no longer be a vein, but an artery industry like the oil industry, and new needs other than construction and fuel will arise for forest-related industries.
Unfortunately, Japan has not only lost sight of this larger perspective over the past several decades, but has also often missed the timing in its pursuit of best effort. For this reason, Mr. Adschiri believes that what is most important is a sense of national speed as the 2050 deadline looms.
To achieve this, the creation of a new society will be even more important than technology. Currently, energy and products using biomass are inevitably costly. That said, we cannot change the situation forever if we continue to favor resources that are inexpensive but have a high environmental impact. I believe that each company, as well as each of us, is being asked to make choices that are desirable for the global environment.
Everyone should consider the flow and life cycle of things in society and create a new society and culture with new industries. There has never been a time like now when the spirit of "Act Now!
I myself joined the Platinum Forest Industry Initiative because I want to be a part of the team and work with you all on the "Se-no! I joined the Platinum Forest Industry Initiative because I want to work together with all of you as a member of the team. Japan should not stand still in such a situation, and I truly resonate with Platinum's mission to move the entire country forward.
The pride and passionate spirit of the great scholars will powerfully support a major step forward in the industrial world.
