Conclusion of a Basic Agreement Concerning the Mainstreaming of Carbon-Free Power Combining Digital Technology and Energy2024/03/05
Tanaka Laboratory at the University of Tokyo School of Engineering’s Department of Technology Management for Innovation (“Tanaka Laboratory”) and JERA Co., Inc (“JERA”) have today agreed to jointly pursue efforts to mainstream carbon-free power that combines digital technology and energy.
Tanaka Laboratory has pursued research on data utilization in the development of advanced power systems, including the application of power consumption data to other fields, power supply-and-demand forecasting and optimization methods, and P2P1 electricity trading systems using blockchain technology.
JERA aims to supply 24/7 carbon-free energy2—electricity that emits no CO2 twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year—through a combination of zero-emissions hydrogen-fired thermal power and renewable energy such as solar power.
Leveraging their knowledge of blockchain technology and forecasting and optimization techniques so far researched and demonstrated in the academic domain, both will now cooperate in a first-in-Japan effort to research and mainstream a combination of P2P electricity trading with the tracking and certification of 24/7 carbon-free power3.
Tanaka Laboratory and JERA will collaborate in actively contributing to the development of a decarbonized society across a broad range of fields as they work to achieve carbon neutrality.
1 A P2P (Peer-to-Peer) electricity trading system uses blockchain and other technology to enable individuals and small businesses to trade electricity directly among themselves. The name is drawn from the telecommunications field, where P2P refers to systems in which connections are direct rather than routed through a central server.
2 “24/7 carbon-free energy” is a name for electricity that emits no CO2 twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. It is achieved based on a supply of clean energy generated through renewables such as solar power together with zero-emissions hydrogen-fired thermal power, combined with the latest digital technology to make electricity demand and CO2 emissions volume visible in real time and to enable forward-looking simulations.
3 Tracking 24/7 carbon-free energy means recording, in accordance with international standards and as unfalsifiable data, the sources from which electricity was generated, where it was consumed, and how much CO2 was emitted, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.