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The use of biomass energy is gaining importance as a means of providing energy security and mitigating global warming. On 7-9 September, the second JSPS-NRCT Summer School was held on the theme “Biomass Energy in Asia.” It was co-organized by the JSPS Bangkok Office, National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT), and the University of Tokyo. Gathered at this summer school, 22 young researchers from Japan and Thailand gave presentations on their research and discussed issues of common interest, in the process of which they deepened and expanded each other’s multifaceted understanding of biomass energy usages, while building working networks among themselves. Five classroom sessions were held. While most focuses on biomass conversion technology, the first session addressed “policy and sustainability” while the last took the form of a general discussion on the theme. The presentations on technology, such as biomass thermo-chemical conversion techniques, evoked energetic discussions on both the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches. On the second day, a study tour was made to two plants in Saraburi Province: One generates biogas as a heat source from waste liquid discharged by a conjoined starch factory; the other produces ethanol from strained sugarcane lees discarded by a similarly conjoined sugar refinery.
Back to the first evening of the summer school, a cultural exchange program was held as a night session in which the participants got to know each other better as colleagues. - JSPS Bangkok Office  |
