Kishida eager to realize hydrogen society

Jiji Press

10:49 JST, April 10, 2022

KOBE (Jiji Press) — Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday stressed the importance of a shift to a hydrogen society in order to realize decarbonization.

On the day, Kishida visited a liquefied hydrogen receiving terminal in Kobe, and inspected the world’s first liquefied hydrogen transport ship, named the Suiso Frontier. Suiso means hydrogen in Japanese.

“Shifting to and developing a hydrogen society is critical for achieving decarbonization,” Kishida told reporters. The government will take “bold support measures” on investment for the early introduction of hydrogen and expansion of its use, he said.

The Suiso Frontier returned from Australia in February, carrying liquefied hydrogen manufactured from coal produced in the Oceanian country. The marine transportation of liquefied hydrogen using the ship is part of a test project joined by the public and private sectors of both Japan and Australia.

Kishida also visited the Bioproduction Engineering Lab of Kobe University. He received an explanation about biomanufacturing technologies related to the creation of plastic and fiber materials using carbon dioxide and genetically modified microorganisms.