Kyushu University holds Energy Week 2021

President Ishibashi delivers his opening address

Kyushu University Energy Week 2021 took place from January 22 (Friday) to 29 (Friday), featuring symposiums concerning energy on the theme of "Energy Intelligence Beyond Borders: Adapting in a Post-Pandemic Society.” For this year’s symposium, Kyushu University’s energy-related departments came together to organize international workshops and those between industry, academia, and government as well as other events around the theme of “future energy,” which served as a forum for exchange and an international hub for energy researchers.

This year marked the fifth annual Energy Week, which was hosted online to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and focused on COVID-related energy issues. The symposium saw upwards of 2,100 participants and included lectures and presentations from researchers from Japan and abroad conducting a wide range of energy-related research as well as students, industry and government officials, and more. On Wednesday, March 3, a symposium was held by the Kyushu University COI Center of Coevolutionary Research for Sustainable Communities (C²RSC).

Kyushu University Platform of Inter/Transdisciplinary Energy Research

Q-PIT Plenary Session

The January 22 plenary session on the first day of the conference began with an opening address by Kyushu University President Ishibashi, followed by keynote speeches by Hiroshi Asano, president of the Japan Society of Energy and Resources, and Yukari Yamashita, vice president of the International Association for Energy Economics. The plenary discussion between the keynote speakers and Kyushu University faculty was a hybrid of online and in-person sessions, which resulted in a wide range of lively discussions about this year’s theme: “Thinking about energy and environmental issues in the Beyond Corona era.”

Poster Presentation

A poster presentation was conducted virtually during Energy Week (January 22–29), featuring 27 awardees of the Q-PIT “Support Program for Doctoral Students” and 4 overseas researchers through an invitation program for international collaborative research. The poster presentation saw a total of 411 participants, who all could listen online to pre-recorded explanations of research outlines and chat with the presenters in an online Q&A session.

Research Center for Hydrogen Industrial Use and Storage, Kyushu University

Hydrogen Energy and Fuel Cell Forum in Kyushu & International Hydrogen Energy Development Forum 2021

As part of Kyushu University’s efforts to communicate new developments in hydrogen research to academic researchers and the industrial community alike, the research center has organized the Hydrogen Energy and Fuel Cell Forum in Kyushu & International Hydrogen Energy Development Forum every year since 2007 together with the Fukuoka Strategy Conference for Hydrogen Energy and the Kyushu Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry. This year's forum was held online on Thursday, January 28, and included lectures on national initiatives for achieving a hydrogen society and examples of hydrogen energy industrialization in the Kyushu area.

In addition, a HYDROGENIUS-I²CNER joint symposium was convened on Thursday, January 28, and Friday, January 29, with an online HYDROGENIUS symposium on Friday, January 29. With a large number of participants joining from outside of Japan, the research center managed to accommodate different time zones, allowing for spirited discussions across various fields by 884 participants over the two-day symposium.

Department website:
HYDROGENIUS

International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (I²CNER)

I²CNER Thrust Workshop, I²CNER-IMI International Workshop, I²CNER Annual Symposium

Seventy-six participants from around the world attended the Thrust Workshop despite its late-night start time on Friday, January 22 (JST). The workshop introduced three new research units established in April 2020 and shared the latest research findings from each unit before opening up to numerous questions from participants.

After the weekend, the I²CNER-IMI International Workshop took place on Monday, January 25, where both practical and theoretical discussions were extended on the integration of energy and mathematics, in particular artificial intelligence, to improve the operation and management of energy systems.

The I²CNER Annual Symposium on Tuesday, January 26, welcomed Japanese and U.S. government officials as well as world-class researchers to engage in discussions on post-COVID energy transition policies from the perspectives of Japan, the U.S., Europe, and Australia. Twenty-two early-career I²CNER researchers also shared posters and one-minute presentations of their current research projects.

Read more:
Report on the January 22 I²CNER Thrust Workshop
Report on the January 26 I²CNER Annual Symposium

Faculty of Engineering Sciences

Chikushi Symposium

The Chikushi Symposium on Monday, January 25, began with an address by Mr. Toshiyuki Yamasaki, director of the Office of International Cooperation in Air and Water Quality Management, Ministry of the Environment. Online participants included researchers from the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) as well as researchers and faculty members from universities and research institutions in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Discussions focused on the theme of sustainable development in Asia, covering diverse perspectives on the current situation of each country’s co-benefits approach to environmental policy and looking at future prospects for a co-benefits approach to climate change mitigation.

Read more:
Report on the Chikushi Symposium

Kyushu University Center of Coevolutionary Research for Sustainable Communities

Kyushu University COI Center of Coevolutionary Research for Sustainable Communities (C²RSC) Symposium

An online symposium was hosted on Wednesday, March 3, titled “Creation of a safe, active, and vibrant community toward the new normal era: Revitalizing the local economy through locally generated and consumed energy, creating sustainable mobility and ICT monitoring services.”

Deputy Mayor of Fukuoka City, Mr. Nakamura, presented a special lecture titled “FUKUOKA NEXT Initiatives—What’s Next for Fukuoka City,” and in the second half of the program, presentations were given on various research themes, followed by a group discussion where presenters fielded questions from the audience, further deepening the discussion.

Department website:
Kyushu University COI Center of Coevolutionary Research for Sustainable Communities (C²RSC)