A test facility near Tokyo has become the first plant in Japan to make eco-friendly synthetic fuel from raw materials.
Such carbon-neutral fuel, if eventually produced on a commercial scale, could replace gasoline and other fossil fuels.
Major Japanese oil wholesaler Eneos built the facility at its research hub near Tokyo and began operating it earlier this month.
Its process involves generating hydrogen through water electrolysis, and combining it with carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and factory emissions.
The company plans to produce about 160 liters of synthetic fuel a day for the time being.
The liquid fuel is virtually carbon-neutral, and can be used in cars and aircraft powered by conventional engines.
But the challenge is how to cut the fuel’s high production cost compared to refining gasoline from crude oil.
Eneos Holdings CEO, Miyata Tomohide said, “Eneos will continue to advance its technologies and explore all options for reducing production costs to a reasonable level.”
The Japanese government is aiming for commercialization of synthetic fuel by the first half of the next decade.