On January 30 and 31, BatterySummit2023 organized by IRuniverse was held at the hotel Hilton Tokyo in Shinjuku.

This article introduces the opening speeches.

 

The reception on January 30 was in full swing and the opening address on 31 was first given by Mr. Tanamachi, CEO of IRuniverse.

He was pleased to see more participants from more countries than last year and reminded everyone that January 30 was Dr. Akira Yoshino's birthday and January 31 was also the birthday for one of the presenters, Hideaki Katayama of Maxell, Ltd. .

Mr. Tanamachi ended his speech by wishing that today's event would contribute to the development of the participants in the battery industry.

 

The opening speech was given by Mr Akira Yoshino, Honorary Fellow, Asahi Kasei Corporation. His explanation centred on the reasons why the Nobel Prize in 2019 was awarded to lithium-ion batteries.

 

 

The first reason is that lithium-ion batteries have made a significant contribution to the realisation of the mobile IT society, and the second is that they are a foothold for the realisation of a future sustainable society.

The role of lithium-ion batteries to make a sustainable society come true has been most recently demonstrated by the shift to EVs. However, this is by no means the only key to a sustainable society, nor is it the only interesting aspect of building a new society.

Of the total global CO2 emissions, CO2 from cars accounts for only 14% of total emissions. Even greater consumption is accounted for by power plants, with 35% of total emissions.

If lithium-ion batteries are to make a real contribution to a sustainable society, we must realise the element of reducing CO2 emissions from power plants by electrifying vehicles.

As a reason why the conversion of cars to EVs will reduce CO2 emissions from power plants, we discussed the change in electricity supply and demand peaks.

In the past, electricity consumption peaked during the daytime and there was a surplus at night. However, this is now reversed.

This is due to the spread of solar power generation, and the government previously issued a request to save electricity during sunset, when the effectiveness of solar power generation declines, as a cause for concern. That is how much solar power is being affected.

Therefore, if the surplus electricity during the daytime has to be used effectively, storage batteries will be needed in the future. However, as the cost of renewable energy is currently just barely covered by the current situation, there is a deadlock in which subsidies for construction costs cannot be provided.

If this happens, existing infrastructure will have to be used to make effective use of electricity. The batteries in electric vehicles will then function as storage batteries for the excessive supply of electricity. When one million electric vehicles are sold annually, lithium-ion batteries will be the cornerstone for building a sustainable society.

GX (Green Transformation) and DX (Digital Transformation) are currently the topics of discussion, and Mr Yoshino says that the third, MX (Mobility Transformation), will be necessary in this context.

He concluded his speech by saying that in order to realise a sustainable society around 2050, it is necessary to discuss a mix of the above-mentioned three types.

 

The second guest was Mr Akira Amari, a member of the House of Representatives and Chairman of the Diet Members' Caucus for the Promotion of Battery and Other Battery-based Industries, Liberal Democratic Party.

 

 

After softening the mood with a joke about the name 'Akira - bright' being associated with wise people in Japan, he explained Japan's two home-grown skills.

 

The first element, which is regarded as a house skill, is 'monozukuri' (manufacturing).

The high level of Japanese craftsmanship is a perfect attraction, he said, as a spiritual catalyst for the event of Rapidus Corporation's partnership with IBM and for the future policy of a "Japanese Silicon Valley" that will bring the world's top universities together in Japan.

 

The other house art is the negative element of "winning in technology and losing in business".

Despite the invention of the lithium-ion battery, Japan is now at the end of the line rather than in the lead.

Therefore, the role of earthquakes is to win in technology and still win in business.

The DX society is also a GX society, and the two main pillars supporting this society are semiconductors and advanced batteries.

The government is taking semiconductors and batteries very seriously.

In the supplementary budget approved in December 2022, 330 billion yen was allocated to subsidise research and development and capital investment.

A further 170 billion yen was added to subsidise mine development and other activities, bringing the total to 500 billion yen.

He also says that the superiority of Japanese technology lies in the performance of the battery.

The performance of batteries is said to be used to store large amounts of power instantaneously and to deliver it at a predetermined output for a long period of time.

However, due to its characteristics, if it is put in instantaneously, a large amount of power is lost. The semiconductor technology around the power device (the semiconductor element for power that controls the power) is needed to keep the instantaneous power output stable for a long period of time.

Battery and semiconductor technology need to walk in partnership.

 

In terms of secondary cells in Japan, we tried to advance to all-solid-state batteries at once after the development of lithium-ion batteries. However, as their performance increased, the period during which Li-ion batteries were used in society lasted longer than expected.

Therefore, it is necessary to consolidate the quality of Li-ion batteries before investing in the next technology, all-solid-state batteries, he says.

Japan is proud of the extremely high quality of its Li-ion batteries.

As proof of this, there have been no car accidents in Japan caused by these batteries catching fire, while overseas there have been some accidents caused by them. The world's number one safety record for Li-ion batteries in Japan is evident in the high level of technology, and companies offer their products with considerable confidence.

The technology mentioned beyond this is air batteries, which utilise oxygen in the air. How to set up a timeline for the development of such air batteries is the job of politicians, he said.

However, even if air batteries are invented, it is currently difficult for aeroplanes to fly long distances. It is necessary to attack this problem and approach it from the topic of fuels with a low environmental impact.

A new society based on DX and GX will be realised by balancing the supply and demand of electricity and by achieving consistency, such as starting the development of low-power-consumption semiconductors to suppress the high demand for electricity due to the introduction of DX. He concluded his speech by saying that he wants to make it a principle to his responsibility of balancing the technology as a politician.

The above are the speeches of the two guests.

Mr Akira Yoshino (Right) and Mr Akira Amari 

 

 

 

（IRUNIVERSE　MARCIN）

 

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