According to The Nikkei Asia, Japanese trading company Sumitomo Corp. will begin producing "green hydrogen," which is made without emitting carbon dioxide, Nikkei has learned.
Sumitomo will set up a production facility in Australia with Japanese engineering company JGC Holdings and produce hydrogen using small solar-powered electrolyzers.
The project is estimated to cost less than 1 billion yen (US$ 9.6 million). Each device produces 300 tons of hydrogen annually, which can power about 3,000 fuel cell vehicles. The gas will be supplied to local factories and fuel cell buses.
Hydrogen is seen as a green energy source during use, but its production results in the emission of greenhouse gases.
Hydrogen does not generate these gases even when burned, but CO2 is emitted in the process of extracting it from fossil fuels and producing it in large quantities. Making it by electrolyzing water using renewable energy does not produce CO2 but has been prohibitively expensive.
Sumitomo and JGC will develop a small water electrolyzer, which is about the size of two shipping containers. It is easier to transport than larger, conventional electrolyzers, and its small size offers more flexibility for installation.
The first facilities will be installed in Australia, where the cost of solar power is among the lowest in the world. Sumitomo aims to start production in 2023.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Environment/Climate-Change/Sumitomo-enters-green-hydrogen-business-in-Australia

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/6860853.html?lang=ja 
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According to The Australian Financial Review, a rush of auctions is stirring the Sydney and Melbourne markets into action much earlier than usual this year as home sellers, buoyed by the strong appetite shown by buyers before Christmas, throw open their doors to summertime bidders.
Last week 174 auctions are listed for Melbourne, more than four times the count for the comparable week last year, according to SQM Research. The following week the count rises rapidly to 439, more than double the corresponding period last year.
It's a similar albeit more muted pattern in Sydney, with 53 auctions set for last week, a substantial step-up from a year earlier, the count rises to 278 the following week, double what it was last year.

https://www.afr.com/property/residential/auction-fever-hits-early-as-sellers-and-buyers-catch-up-20210121-p56vuv

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/9225114.html?lang=ja
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, leading electronics maker Panasonic Corp. said it has developed a box that can maintain ultracold temperatures for storing and transporting COVID-19 vaccines, one of the trickiest procedures in inoculation programs.
Panasonic plans to start providing samples to drug companies and related businesses as early as March before leasing out the product.
The box will be offered in two sizes: 120 liters and 57 liters. Even in outside temperatures of 30 degrees, the 120-liter box can store vaccines at minus 70 degrees or lower for up to 18 days by placing 34 kilograms of dry ice in it, according to the company.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14128255

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www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/8192307.html?lang=ja 
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, Mitsubishi Estate Co. will switch to renewable energy sources for all the electricity used in its office buildings in central Tokyo by March 2023, the company announced on Jan. 21.
Real estate firms are aiming to boost the competitiveness of their office buildings by promoting the use of renewable energy at office spaces amid growing environmental awareness among tenant companies and organizations.
Mitsubishi Estate will procure electricity derived from renewable energy from Eneos Corp., Tokyo Gas Co. and three other power companies.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14127800

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/3754417.html?lang=ja 
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According to The Australian Financial Review, early-stage biotech BCAL Diagnostics has closed a $4 million pre-IPO capital raise led by Citadel Group's Mark McConnell, which will fund clinical trials for a breakthrough low-cost breast cancer detection blood test.
Founded by healthcare industry veteran and former Vision Group executive Jayne Shaw with former NSW health minister Ron Phillips, the funding round comes after more than a decade of blood, sweat and tears, as well as personal investment, which has led to the commencement of a phase-one clinical trial.
In conjunction with scientists in the US, BCAL has identified a panel of 18 biomarkers, which in theory indicates whether a person has breast cancer based on changes to their lipids.

https://www.afr.com/companies/healthcare-and-fitness/breast-cancer-blood-test-biotech-scores-fresh-funds-20210114-p56u4d

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/8615837.html?lang=ja
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According to The Nikkei Asia, NEC has developed an AI-powered system for analyzing colonoscopy images in real-time to support the detection of cancers and even hard-to-find polyps, as the company known for electronics enters the medical devices field.
New AI boasts over 90% accuracy in automatically detecting cancer and polyps thanks to NEC's mainstay facial recognition technology and is expected to provide robust support for physicians.
Some studies have shown that more than 20% of polyps are missed in current screenings.
The new system has been approved in Japan as a medical device, the first for NEC. The device will sell for roughly 4 million yen (US$ 38,400), with a sales target of 1,000 units in Japan and Europe over five years.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Colon-cancer-finds-foe-in-new-AI-tool-from-NEC

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www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/nec-ai.html?lang=ja 
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According to The Australian Financial Review, buyers' agents, property valuers and analysts are tipping the more affordable and higher yielding Brisbane and Adelaide to be among the standout markets for property investors in 2021.
With more people now working from home, investors should also consider country and coastal "lifestyle" destinations that are within commuting distance to major cities such as the NSW Central Coast, Queensland's Sunshine Coast and Victorian regional hubs like Bendigo, experts say.
Valuer and adviser Anna Porter's top investment pick for 2021 is Brisbane.
The Queensland capital finished 2020 with a median dwelling value of $522,000, well below that of Sydney ($872,000) and Melbourne ($682,000), but with a much higher gross rental yield of 4.3 per cent compared to 2.9 per cent in Sydney and 3.1 per cent in Melbourne, according to CoreLogic.

https://www.afr.com/property/residential/buy-in-brisbane-avoid-tasmania-consider-the-regions-20210110-p56szc

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/9931834.html?lang=ja 
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, the plastic containers somebody just tossed in the trash or worse, the ocean, where it can take an eternity to deteriorate, is getting a second life as a new plastic bag.
Trading house Itochu Corp. teamed up with the nation's leading plastic bag manufacturer to develop the world's first plastic bag made from raw materials derived from marine debris.
Itochu, which partnered with subsidiary Sanipak Co. of Japan Ltd. to manufacture the bags for commercial use, hopes the project will help prod businesses to make greater efforts to go green, company officials said.
To make the bags, polyethylene containers that washed up on the shore of Nagasaki Prefecture's Tsushima island were crushed and reprocessed, Itochu officials said.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13983230

​If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/7154240.html?lang=ja
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, a research institute in Japan has developed a machine that uses ultraviolet rays to protect mikan (mandarin orange) against rotting.
Researchers at the Saika Technological Institute Foundation, which produces food quality inspection equipment and devices, and other parties, including the Shizuoka prefectural government, discovered that ultraviolet ray application causes strong stress on the fruit and stimulates its self-defense function.
This leads to production of a sort of polyphenol known as scoparone that has antibacterial effects and stops the skin from decomposing.
Saika has developed and marketed equipment, measuring 1.5 meters long and weighing 140 kilograms, to prevent mold from forming during storage and transportation of mikan.
Mikan are rotated and carried on a conveyor belt in the machine for even exposure to ultraviolet rays for 20 to 25 seconds.
It can treat 700 kilograms of mikan per hour, and the antibacterial effect will continue for two to three weeks, according to the scientists.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13985059

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/5327425.html?lang=ja 
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According to The Australian Financial Review, BHP has put more money into efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of steelmaking, this time by taking a shareholding in a small US company called Boston Metal.
BHP put an undisclosed sum, understood to be close to $US10 million ($13 million), into the $US50 million raising conducted by Boston Metal last week.
The funds will help the private company accelerate its molten oxide electrolysis technology, which is seen as a stepping stone to the production of emissions-free steel.
Emissions from steelmakers mean iron ore miners such as BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals have very large "scope 3" emissions, regardless of whether they sell coal.
BHP and Rio have expressed a desire to reduce their scope 3 emissions footprint, with both companies announcing partnerships with China's biggest steelmaker, Baowu, on projects to reduce the emissions at its steel mills.

https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/bhp-ventures-further-into-steel-decarbonisation-20210112-p56tkk

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/bhp6321090.html?lang=ja 
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