Aiming to establish "an energy-recycling next-generation farm model" through WISE Program in Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology

Aiming to establish "an energy-recycling next-generation farm model" through WISE Program in Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
~ Using agricultural waste as fuel for agricultural greenhouses ~

Graduate Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering Department of Food and Energy Systems Science (WISE Graduate School)
Integrated doctoral program 3rd year (equivalent to 1 year doctoral student) Tatsuya Sudo

We interviewed Mr. Tatsuya Sudo, who is continuing his research in particulate engineering at Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering Department of Food and Energy Systems Science and is aiming to establish a "next-generation farm model of energy circulation" that can sustainably produce food at WISE Program in Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (hereinafter referred to as JN).

* Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology WISE Program in Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (Program name: Fostering outstanding leaders who will lead the "super smart society" through the creation of new industries and diversity)
Characterized by "creation of new industries" and "diversity," agriculture and engineering are co-created, and in cooperation with private companies and overseas research and educational institutions, "creation of new industries that contribute to the revolution in agricultural distribution realized by advanced engineering technology" is one of the theme themes, and research themes in various research fields are set with a high degree of freedom to cultivate high-level doctoral human resources. Students who take WISE Program in Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology are working on WISE Program in Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology assignments in addition to their own graduate school courses, such as Graduate School of Engineering, Graduate School of Agriculture, and Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering.
Website: http://www.wise.tuat.ac.jp/

What projects are you working on?

As the world's population grows, the demand for food resources is expected to increase, making it necessary to achieve stable food production. In this context, "agricultural greenhouses," which are less affected by weather, are attracting attention as a horticultural method that can achieve stable food production. However, agricultural greenhouses use a lot of energy derived from fossil fuels to control the growing environment. This poses two challenges: high utility bills put pressure on management, and the use of large amounts of petroleum as fuel goes against the trend toward decarbonization in society.

Another issue in agriculture is that stems, leaves, roots, and other parts of crops that are not harvested end up as waste known as "agricultural residues." Agricultural residues are sometimes used as compost, but when there is too much residue, it cannot be consumed by composting alone, resulting in high disposal costs.

Therefore, we would like to establish a business model that utilizes agricultural residues as an energy source, and solves both the problem of reducing the fuel costs required to maintain agricultural greenhouses and the problem of disposing of agricultural residues.Specifically, our business plan is to collect agricultural residues from farmers, manufacture "residue pellets" at our own factory, and sell them as fuel for agricultural greenhouses equipped with heating equipment.

There are many different agricultural crops, but this time we are mainly targeting agricultural residues from tomato cultivation. Tomatoes are a common vegetable that is sold in supermarkets all year round, with several farms cultivating them in the Kanto region. When interviewing tomato farmers, we heard that they were struggling with how to dispose of the large amounts of residues such as leaves and stems that were generated, and this led us to focus on tomato residues. In addition, since there are members on the team researching rice, rice straw is easily available, so we are also focusing on agricultural residues from rice cultivation. Therefore, in this project, we plan to proceed with our investigations using both rice straw and tomato residues.

Please tell us about the background of this project and what it aims to achieve.

This project was born out of the Introduction to Global Leaders of Excellence class at WISE Program in Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. At the beginning of the class, I didn't have much enthusiasm for this theme, but when I actually started working on it, I was able to make the most of TUAT 's strengths of the fusion of "agriculture" and "engineering," and I felt that it was an interesting theme to explore. I also find it rewarding to be able to take on the major challenge of solving the world's food problem.

The business model draft that was built in the "Introduction to Global Excellence Leadership" class from September 2020 to February 2021 was further refined through the "SVA Innovation Training" class from February to July 2021. SVA Innovation, a US company, is a spin-off from SRI International, which has its origins at Stanford University, and provides instruction in innovation creation and business planning methodologies, mainly in Silicon Valley. Through repeated discussions in English with Senior Assistant Professor from SVA Innovation, the direction of the business plan was revised to make it applicable worldwide.

Starting this year, the WISE Graduate School has started the "Agriculture and Industry Collaborative Creation Project," which provides funding for student ideas, and nine teams are currently active in the program. We were selected as one of these teams, and were able to receive funding. We hope to use the funding to make the agricultural model we came up with in class academically meaningful, and are currently conducting experimental studies within the project to verify the validity of the business model.
The photo shows a pellet combustion experiment conducted at a farm on the Fuchu Campus. We actually produced residue pellets and first collected data on wood pellets for comparison in order to obtain information such as ignition time, burning duration, and amount of ash produced. We plan to conduct combustion experiments using residue pellets in the future and incorporate the results into our business plan.

The goals of the activities include the academic goal of "creating a sustainable food production model that breaks away from oil-dependent food production" and the educational goal of "acquiring knowledge for students to develop business and implement social implementation." The Agriculture and Engineering Collaborative Creation Project is a new project of the Graduate School of Excellence that allows you to obtain funds and produce prototypes that give shape to the ideas you have conceived in your business plan. By taking the lead in building a business plan and prototyping, we hope to become a role model for TUAT students when they are involved in the commercialization and implementation of ideas.

Please tell us about the project members.

There are four members, including myself. All of them are taking WISE Program in Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, one in agriculture and three in engineering.
Mr. Kimiki Chiso of United Graduate School of Agricultural Science Department of Biological Production Science, who is researching rice, and Mr. Takuya Higashitani, who is Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering Department of Bio-Functions and Systems Science researching energy, are deeply related to their research fields and projects, and they are applying their expertise cultivated in research to the construction of farm models and experimental systems. Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering Department of Food and Energy Systems Science Zhang Yanqiao and I don't have as strong a relationship between our research field and the project as the other two, so we don't have many opportunities to make use of our expertise. Therefore, Mr. Akira plays an active role in the management of the project, such as managing expenses, and I am in charge of coordinating the entire project and negotiating with external parties. We respect the expertise and personality of our members so that they can make use of their strengths in their activities.

Please tell us what you learned at the Graduate School of Excellence and what challenges you faced.

What was attractive about the WISE Graduate School was that I could learn the practical skills necessary to write applications and obtain public budgets and expenses. After completing my doctoral course, I would like to become a researcher in a company. Through my activities at the WISE Graduate School, I believe I was able to acquire an important way of thinking that will be useful in developing projects within companies in the future.
I also believe that working on the project has been a useful experience when taking a step into new areas and collaborating with others, as well as when managing a team effectively.

The hardest part is balancing it with my own research.
At Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering Department of Food and Energy Systems Science, I am working on research related to nano-sized small particles (nanoparticles), which are the key to nanotechnology. Nanoparticles have excellent material performance due to their small size, but the problem is that they stick to each other during the material manufacturing process and become large lumps. Therefore, the goal of our research is to construct a method to stably maintain nanoparticles while remaining nano-sized. If this research progresses and nanoparticles can be effectively used as functional materials, it will be possible to manufacture new electrode materials for solar panels with high power generation efficiency, for example, and make a significant contribution to society. Particulate engineering is a field of chemical engineering, but I entered TUAT because I was originally interested in the field of chemical engineering, where I could study chemistry that is close to practical science, so I feel that my research is very rewarding.
However, experiments, classes, and project initiatives for research... I don't have enough time to balance various activities. However, I feel that by continuing to make efforts to make a schedule in a limited amount of time, I have naturally acquired the ability to make an efficient schedule and have become better at using my time.

Please give a message to prospective prospective students.

I think January and February are the months when people put in the effort to study for exams. When I was prospective students studying for exams, I remember feeling suffocated and stressed during this time.
Of course, it is important to continue studying, but it is also important to take a break.
It's also a good idea to take breaks by listening to your favorite music, eating your favorite sweets, etc., so that you can be in the best physical and mental condition for the exam.
I hope you will take the exams believing in the efforts you have made so far. Good luck to everyone!

(Published on January 14, 2021)