Mar 19 2019

On March 1, 2019, Niigata University signed a science partnership agreement on utilizing solar thermal energy with the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

There were eight attendees from the DLR including Prof. Dr. Karsten Lemmer, the Executive Board Member responsible for the area Energy and Transport, Mr. Bernhard Milow, the Programme Director of DLR Energy Research and Prof. Dr. Christian Sattler, the Head of Department Solar Chemical Engineering, Institute of Solar Research at the signing ceremony held at Niigata University.

From Niigata University, Prof. Sugata Takahashi, the President, Prof. Hitoshi Takahashi, the Executive Vice President for Research, Prof. Tatsuya Kodama, the Director of the Pan-Pacific Solar Fuel System Research Center of Institute of Science and Technology and Prof. Koji Matsubara of Institute of Science and Technology attended the ceremony. Witnessing the agreement signed, Dr. Masaki Onozaki, Senior Fellow, the research advisor of the Institute of Applied Energy, and Dr. Kenichi Wakui, Manager, Environment & Energy Research Laboratory in Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd., also attended.

The DLR is one of the top research institutes in the world in solar heat thermal energy utilization. The research group of Prof. Kodama of Niigata University has been collaborating on research and education on utilizing concentrating solar thermal energy with DLR researchers for about 16 years, which has deepened their partnership. In order to further promote hydrogen production research utilizing concentrating solar thermal energy, we have finally reached this agreement.

Prof. Dr. Lemmer mentioned that Niigata University and the DLR have been collaborating with each other on the technologies for concentrating solar thermal energy and changing it into fuel for years. Prof. Dr. Lemmer hopes that they will unite their expertise as partners and advance solar heat collection research toward their goal.

It is anticipated that concluding this agreement will help further collaboration on the next generation technology that will produce chemical fuel, such as hydrogen, from concentrated solar thermal energy, which will lead the world to realize hydrogen energy-based society.