The fossil fuel dependent social system of mass production, mass consumption, and mass disposal has deepened a variety of serious environmental problems from global warming to waste products and toxic substances. In this context, the value of effective use of biomass-a renewable, biologically-derived organic resource-is receiving considerable attention.
Moreover, though many of the countries of Asia are rich in biomass resources due to their climate and other factors, there is profound concern that their future economic and population growth will lead to both increased energy consumption and an increase in greenhouse gas emissions.
Given this situation, as has been pointed out in the "Biomass Nippon Strategy," the following tasks have become urgently necessary, from both a global and Asian regional perspective:
- Dissemination and sharing of technological achievements with regard to the effective use of biomass as a part of measures to prevent global warming
- Contribution to the creation of sustainable, recycling-oriented societies in Asia through the effective use of wastes and other measures
- Fostering of competitive, environmentally benign industries through the use of biomass for alternative energy generation and for conversion into various products
- Revitalization of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries and the communities engaged in them through effective use of biomass
In pursuit of these goals, strengthening environmental and energy partnerships among the Asian nations is indispensable, as emphasized in the above-mentioned "Biomass Nippon Strategy," which was revised in March 2006. As a concrete step in that direction, we are organizing "Biomass-Asia Workshop," an international workshop bringing together government officials and researchers active in the field of biomass in countries throughout Asia with representatives of the Japanese government, private sector, and academia. Based on the technologies discussed and opinions exchanged at the past two workshops, this third workshop will chart a clear direction for research and development on industrial and agricultural technologies in this important field.
This workshop is being held as part of cooperative efforts to develop an ASEAN Biomass Research and Development Strategy, a project adopted in the program "Leadership for International Scientific Cooperation" supported by the Special Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and Technology of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
Updater on December 13,2006