It is expected that the creation of chemicals from biomass by the white biotechnology will largely contribute to the reduction of CO₂ emission in light of carbon neutral and energy-saving. In order to develop a practical production process of the biomass based chemicals, it is extremely important to establish the fundamental technologies in the based chemical industries such as (i) efficient separation of objective biomass components, (ii) chemical-engineered and biological-engineered conversion into core chemicals, and (iii) synthesis of high performance polymers and utilization thereof. An innovative elemental technology in the throughout process for producing high added-value chemicals from biomass will be developed to establish the biomass-based chemical industry.

Operationally we cooperate not only within the ALCA technology area but also with other JST programs. In addition, in order to effectively promote the cooperation among the projects with “Technical development of producing process of chemicals from inedible plants” in NEDO, a joint meeting comprising JST, NEDO and concerned parties for the project are established.

In the ALCA white biotechnology, attention is focused on the polymer material as a final product. We promote development of synthesis and a material design for high polymer properties such as high thermal resistance, high strength and also the development of a process for effectively producing a monomer chemical. Operationally, this technology area consists of three types of the team type, the elemental technology type and the Specific technology type. The research and development on "vertical integration type team research", "elemental technology research for solving the technological bottleneck" and "next-generation cellulose fiber" is mainly conducted for 5 fiscal years in each type.

※ All projects have been completed in 2019.