The Institute for Policy Analysis and Social Innovation, University of Hyogo symposium “A Future with Methanation” was hosted at the Hyogo Prefecture Citizen\\\'s Hall on Friday, June 16. The event was hosted by University of Hyogo, Institute for Policy Analysis and Social Innovation, and co-hosted by Japan Society of Public Utility Economics and University of Hyogo’s Collaborative Research Center for Hydrogen Energy. A total of approximately 150 people participated in person and online.

Since this academic year, the Institute for Policy Analysis and Social Innovation has touted as an initiative for realizing SDGs a major theme of a society in which the emissions of greenhouse gases have dropped to zero, or, in other words, the construction of a zero-carbon society. This symposium featured practitioners and researchers and accepted participation from everyday individuals, in order to contribute to solving problems for realizing the future society.

The topic of this symposium, the first one of the academic year, was “A Future with Methanation”, and it was hosted as a symposium for investigating the potential of methanation.

The most promising method of decarbonizing municipal gas in order to realize a carbon-free society is to use methanation, a process in which a reaction is produced between hydrogen (H2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) in order to synthesize methane (CH4), which is a primary component of natural gas.

The symposium was hosted for approximately two hours by one keynote speaker, one speaker, and five panelists and in cooperation with the Japan Society of Public Utility Economics and University of Hyogo’s Collaborative Research Center for Hydrogen Energy, on how the technology of synthetic methane (e-methane) can grow into the pillar of a decarbonized society. Vice President Shinichi Kusanagi took the role as the moderator.

Representatives: Vice President Shinichi Kusanagi; Takashi Tanaka, Head of Institute for Policy Analysis and Social Innovation; Atsushi Fukumi, Professor, Institute for Policy Analysis and Social Innovation; Atsushi Osawa, Lecturer, Policy Analysis and Social Innovation; Natsumi Ochiai, Lecturer, Policy Analysis and Social Innovation

For details, please check the following websites.

https://ips-u-hyogo.jp/archives/578

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0mVwNipc4s

https://u-hyogo-webmag.com/archives/article/20230616ips-shympo