Energy’s present and future shines at Kyushu University Energy Week 2020

From January 27 to 31, Kyushu University held the fourth edition of its annual Energy Week, this time under the theme of “Energy Intelligence Beyond Borders: Sharing Sustainable Energy Visions.” A five-day international conference that is collaboratively organized by all energy-related departments, Energy Week features a variety of academic workshops, symposia, and invited lectures from prominent energy researchers as well as public events that bring together experts from academia, industry, and government. This year’s Energy Week was attended by a total of 2,700 participants from Japan and abroad and featured a special lecture by Distinguished University Professor Akira Yoshino, Nobel laureate in chemistry, on the last day. 

Considered to be Kyushu University's main venue to promote exchange among researchers and practitioners in the energy sector and to highlight its role as an international hub for sustainable energy research, the event also brings together young researchers from overseas and Kyushu University to foster international collaborative research and education and features a poster competition organized by the Kyushu University Platform for Inter-/Transdisciplinary Energy Research (Q-PIT), with the aim of supporting, nurturing, and discovering young researchers and doctoral students who are responsible for future energy research.

Key Events

A prologue workshop on the first day focused on the concept of a Regional Circular and Ecological Sphere (Regional CES) and included lectures by representatives of the Ministry of the Environment (MOE), Japan, and Kyushu University.

During the course of the day, the annual poster competition for young researchers was held. The President's Award was given to Ryo Sakamoto, Ph.D. student at Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences. The Gold Prize for the Young Researchers / Doctoral Students Support Program was awarded to Tomoya Kageyama, Ph.D. student at the Graduate School of Information Science and Electrical Engineering.

The third day featured two workshops focusing on different aspects of sustainable energy development in Asia-Pacific. The first workshop, titled “Can Scientists Make a Difference? Exploring the Possibilities of Interdisciplinary Collaboration for Clean Energy Development," brought together experts from international organizations and university researchers to discuss potential avenues of future science-policy collaborations.

This was followed by the afternoon workshop called “Sustainable Energy Transitions in Asia,” which presented energy-related research projects at Kyushu University and collaborating institutes. The event was kicked off by a keynote-lecture by Prof. Adrian Bejan (Duke University, USA) on constructal theory and its applications to sustainability and finished with a lively Q&A session with the audience.

Departments and Collaboration Partners

• Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and Research Center for Hydrogen Industrial Use and Storage [Hydrogen Energy and Fuel Cell Forum in Kyushu & International Hydrogen Development Forum 2020]
• Research Center for Hydrogen Industrial Use and Storage & International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research [Joint Research Symposium]
• Research Center for Hydrogen Industrial Use and Storage, Kyushu University [Symposium]
• International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research [International Workshop]
• International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research & Institute of Mathematics for Industry [Joint International Workshop]
• Research Center for Synchrotron Light Applications [Tosu SLRC Symposium]
• Chikushi Symposium/ Kyushu University Platform for Inter-/Transdisciplinary Energy Research and Research Center for Green Technology [Special Lecture by Dr. Akira Yoshino]