Japan's unique technology
Cultivate Euglena.

-I want to help people with the power of biotechnology.
Since high school, Takeda had a dream of "changing the world with the power of photosynthesis."

2015年10月、鈴木秀幸とともに米国でのバイオ燃料向けユーグレナの培養研究から帰国すると、バイオ燃料開発課の課長であった嵐田から声がかかった。

「ユーグレナなどの微細藻類を商用のバイオ燃料の原料として生産することを見据えて、低コストかつ安定的に大量培養できる方法を確立させてください…！」

入社以来ずっとユーグレナの屋外大量培養や研究をメインとして行ってきた武田の次の挑戦が、こうして始まった。

Takeda under study

2016年4月、武田は、バイオ燃料用のユーグレナの屋外培養に協力してくれる事業者を求めて日本全国を駆け回った。そして、3カ月後にようやく「ぜひ一緒に挑戦したい！」と名乗り出てくれたのが、三重県多気町に木質バイオマス発電所を保有する中部プラントサービスだ。

And September 2016.
Euglena Co., Ltd. uses exhaust gas, wastewater, exhaust heat, etc. emitted from woody biomass power plants as carbon dioxide sources and energy required for cultivating microalgaes with the cooperation of Chubu Plant Service, Mie Prefecture, and Taki Town. Announced that a fuel microalgae culture pool will be built adjacent to the woody biomass power plant.

Euglena Co., Ltd., Chubu Plant Service, Mie Prefecture, and Taki Town announce cooperation

After that, Takeda worked with the cooperation of many people, from the design of the construction to the management of the construction and the selection of equipment for the introduction of the culture equipment.

However, the challenge of cost reduction is not over yet.
"How can we cultivate at a lower cost ...
That's it! How about changing the way the culture pool is designed? "

The conventional microalgae culture pool is made of concrete, which is expensive and has a long construction period. As we proceeded with the introduction of culture equipment, we thought about changing the culture equipment itself, which is the basis of culture in the first place.

Therefore, Takeda focused on the agricultural technology possessed by Kobashi Industries, an agricultural machinery manufacturer in Okayama Prefecture, which has a history of more than 100 years, especially paddy field development technology. Originally, Kobashi Industries received a proposal that "paddy field development technology could be used for culturing microalgae," and in 2014, we concluded a joint research agreement on an efficient and stable culturing method for microalgae. , I was doing research.

And finally July 31, 2017.
Euglena, Inc. announced that it will start the construction and operation of the ridge-type microalgae culture pool, the world's first an application of the ridge ^※ coating technology of paddy field reclamation of Kobashikogyo.
^* Aze ... A partition between rice fields that has been raised and hardened with soil.

Aze-type microalgae culture pool in Taki Town, Mie Prefecture (1000㎡)

As a result of actually constructing a large pool of 1,000 square meters, Takeda et al.'S research shows that the construction cost is about one-tenth that of a culture pool constructed of concrete because the soil is solidified in a ridge shape. In addition, the construction period has been reduced to about one-fourth, and it has become clear that it will be possible to reduce the production cost of microalgae for fuel, which is required in large quantities, and to quickly respond to the expansion of production volume.

The scale of the ridge-type microalgae culture pool is scheduled to be expanded by the end of 2018 in line with the expansion of the culture scale.
Through trial and error every day, Takeda is steadily progressing step by step toward the realization of his dream of "changing the world with the power of photosynthesis" since he was a high school student.

Mie research team on the day of announcing the culture in the ridge-type microalgae culture pool (at that time, Tateishi, Takeda, Hanashiro from the left)

Posted in March 2018