Japan funds two demo projects to cut GHGs from agriculture
Quantum Commodity Intelligence – Two Japanese companies are to receive government finance to help demonstrate projects that cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the agricultural sector and generate carbon credits, as part of funding mechanism to support innovative technologies in agriculture.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) announced Thursday that agritech company Sagri and soil technology company Towing are two of 29 companies to receive funding under the third allocation phase of its Medium Enterprise Innovation Creation Promotion Fund for 25 projects.
Sagri will receive almost JPY915 million ($6.5 million) to demonstrate at-scale carbon credit creation and sales to cut GHGs in the agriculture sector using satellite data, while Towing is granted almost JPY1.25 billion for the development of a large-scale production process for "high-performance" biochar and demo its use on farmland.
Both projects are allocated funding under the category to demonstrate technology that results in a reduction of GHG emissions, one of 14 categories under which money has been allocated.
MAFF set up the fund to promote the implementation of cutting-edge technologies developed by start-ups through demonstration projects.
JPY46.72 billion was allocated by the government to the third funding phase.
In October, Towing and compatriot project developer Green Carbon said they were working together to generate carbon credits from biochar and rice methane projects.
The duo said at the time they will work mainly with rice farmers to produce a type of "high-performance" biochar called Soratan, which has been developed by Towing, using waste rice husks as feedstock.
Biochar is a carbon-rich substance mainly produced by a process called pyrolysis that involves the heating and/or burning of an element, such as plant and animal biomass that would otherwise be burnt or led to degrade, in an oxygen-absent, controlled environment.
The substance, which is very stable and can store carbon for more than 100 years, is often used as a soil additive to increase fertility and protect from natural risks, such as flooding or erosion.
Towing and Green Carbon will use the Soratan in soil used to grow rice seedlings to generate carbon credits under Japan's J-Credit scheme, utilising methodology AS-004 'Agricultural land application of biochar'.
In June, Towing, which was set up in 2020 by researchers from Nagoya University, became the first Japanese company to have J-Credit biochar project approved that will reduce or absorb 465,507 tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2031.
In August, it was announced that Sagri was collaborating with another Japan-based project developer Faeger on a demonstration project to use satellite imagery to serve as evidence of efforts to cut methane emissions from paddy rice farming.
