Japan Blue Energy Co., Ltd.

Japan Blue Energy Co., Ltd. (JBEC) is a Tokyo-based engineering and technology company focused on producing hydrogen from organic waste and biomass. Originally founded in May 1975 as Nihon Keikaku Kiko Co., Ltd. (Japan Planning Organization), the company began as a regional industry promotion and regional revitalization consultancy. In April 1995 it added environment and energy to its consulting scope, and from the early 2000s it shifted decisively toward waste-to-hydrogen technology. The company is headquartered in the Ark Hills South Tower in Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, and is led by Representative Director Takumi Kogusuri. JBEC's core technology is a method for recovering hydrogen from organic waste, for which it filed a patent in Japan in August 2002. It also acquired an exclusive license in Japan from the German firm DM2 (now BLUE TOWER GmbH) for a method of gasifying organic substances and mixtures, and later purchased the Japanese and Asian patent rights. The company built a series of demonstration plants: the first in Anan, Tokushima Prefecture (completed March 2005), the second in Izumo, Shimane Prefecture (completed April 2006), and the third in Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture (completed June 2013). It has obtained patents in Japan, Indonesia, Australia, China, and Canada, and holds exclusive rights across 17 countries in Asia and Oceania. In recent years JBEC has pursued partnerships and demonstration projects. In May 2019 it established the joint venture BT Engineering, Inc. (later Ways2H, Inc.) with US-based Clean Energy Enterprises, and in October 2019 received an order for the first AGM unit. In November 2020 it signed a joint research agreement with Toda Corporation and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Sewerage on hydrogen production from sewage sludge, and in April 2021 installed the AGM2 unit at the Sewerage Technology Research and Development Center within the Sunamachi Water Reclamation Center in Tokyo. In April 2022 it registered as a partner company with the UN's WIPO GREEN. In August 2022 it ended its license agreement with Clean Energy Enterprises and transferred all shares of Ways2H, Inc. to that company, dissolving the joint venture. JBEC positions itself around the vision of a "circular hydrogen society," producing CO2-free hydrogen from waste that would otherwise be incinerated. Its technology is intended as infrastructure for a clean energy transition, and the company markets its gasification systems and engineering services primarily in Japan while maintaining international patent coverage and partnerships.

Japan Blue Energy Co., Ltd. was established in May 1975 under the name Nihon Keikaku Kiko Co., Ltd. (Japan Planning Organization). Its initial business was consulting across a broad range of regional industry promotion and regional revitalization activities. In April 1995, the company added environment and energy to its consulting practice and began developing business in that field. The company's pivot to waste-to-hydrogen technology began in the early 2000s. In August 2002 it filed a patent in Japan for its independently developed "method for recovering hydrogen from organic waste." In September 2002 it acquired an exclusive ordinary license in Japan from the German company DM2 (now BLUE TOWER GmbH) for a "method for gasifying organic substances and substance mixtures." In August 2003 it filed patent applications for its hydrogen recovery method in Canada, China, Indonesia, and Australia. Demonstration plants followed. Construction of Japan's first demonstration plant began in September 2004 in Anan, Tokushima Prefecture, and was completed in March 2005. Construction of a second plant in Izumo, Shimane Prefecture, began in March 2005 and was completed in April 2006. In August 2005 the company purchased patent rights for Japan and Asia from DM2. In November 2008 it obtained a patent for its hydrogen recovery method in Indonesia, followed by Japan in January 2009. In February 2009 it obtained a Japanese patent for the gasification method, acquired exclusive ordinary licenses in 17 countries in Asia and Oceania, and priority rights in Russia, China, and India, and filed a patent in Japan for a "method for gasifying organic waste." Patents for the hydrogen recovery method were obtained in Australia (November 2009), China (December 2009), and Canada (November 2011). In February 2010, a biomass gasification project was approved under a Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries subsidy program, and the company began providing technology to the project operator. In July 2010 it filed a Japanese patent for a "method for producing hydrogen-containing gas." In May 2012 it developed Blue Tower II and filed a Japanese patent for a "biomass gasification apparatus." In September 2012 it launched the HIT (Hydrogen Innovation Town) project research group with Mitsui Chemicals, Toyota Tsusho, Daiwa Lease, and observers Toyota Motor and Daiwa House, starting demonstration of hydrogen gas production from sewage sludge. Construction of a third demonstration plant began in Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture, in February 2013 and was completed in June 2013. In May 2013 it obtained a Japanese patent for the hydrogen-containing gas production method and filed patent applications for the biomass gasification apparatus in Japan, the EU, and 15 other countries. In May 2019 the company established the joint venture BT Engineering, Inc. (later Ways2H, Inc.) with US-based Clean Energy Enterprises, and signed a license agreement with Clean Energy Enterprises in June 2019. In October 2019 it received an order for the first AGM unit from BT Engineering. In November 2020 it concluded an agreement with Toda Corporation and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Sewerage for joint research on hydrogen production technology from sewage sludge. In April 2021 the AGM2 unit was installed at the Sewerage Technology Research and Development Center within the Sunamachi Water Reclamation Center in Tokyo, and demonstration experiments began. In April 2022 the company registered as a partner company with the UN's WIPO GREEN. In August 2022, following the termination of its license agreement with Clean Energy Enterprises, it transferred all shares of Ways2H, Inc. to Clean Energy Enterprises and dissolved the joint venture.

• Established as Nihon Keikaku Kiko Co., Ltd. (Japan Planning Organization); begins consulting for regional industry promotion and revitalization.

• Adds environment and energy to consulting business and expands operations.

• Files patent in Japan for independently developed method for recovering hydrogen from organic waste.

• Acquires exclusive ordinary license in Japan from German DM2 (now BLUE TOWER GmbH) for method of gasifying organic substances and mixtures.

• Files patent applications for hydrogen recovery method in Canada, China, Indonesia, and Australia.

• Construction begins on Japan's first demonstration plant in Anan, Tokushima Prefecture.

• First demonstration plant completed in Anan, Tokushima; construction begins on second plant in Izumo, Shimane Prefecture.

• Purchases patent rights for Japan and Asia from DM2.

• Second demonstration plant completed in Izumo, Shimane Prefecture.

• Obtains patent for hydrogen recovery method in Indonesia.

• Obtains patent for hydrogen recovery method in Japan.

• Obtains Japanese patent for gasification method; acquires exclusive ordinary licenses in 17 Asia-Oceania countries and priority rights in Russia, China, India; files patent for organic waste gasification method in Japan.

• Obtains patent for hydrogen recovery method in Australia.

• Obtains patent for hydrogen recovery method in China.

• Biomass gasification project approved under Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries subsidy; begins providing technology to project operator.

• Files patent in Japan for method for producing hydrogen-containing gas.

• Obtains patent for hydrogen recovery method in Canada.

• Develops Blue Tower II and files Japanese patent for biomass gasification apparatus.

• Launches HIT (Hydrogen Innovation Town) project research group with Mitsui Chemicals, Toyota Tsusho, Daiwa Lease, and observers Toyota Motor and Daiwa House; begins demonstration of hydrogen production from sewage sludge.

• Construction begins on third demonstration plant in Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture.

• Obtains Japanese patent for hydrogen-containing gas production method; files patent applications for biomass gasification apparatus in Japan, EU, and 15 other countries.

• Third demonstration plant completed in Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture.

• Establishes joint venture BT Engineering, Inc. (now Ways2H, Inc.) with US-based Clean Energy Enterprises.

• Signs license agreement with Clean Energy Enterprises.

Provider of CO2-free hydrogen from organic waste and biomass, aiming to build the infrastructure of a circular hydrogen society.

• Blue Tower gasification process

  Gasification technology for converting organic waste and biomass into hydrogen-rich gas.

• AGM (Advanced Gasification Module) units

  Modular gasification units; AGM1 ordered in 2019, AGM2 installed in Tokyo in 2021.

• Hydrogen recovery from organic waste

  Patented method for recovering hydrogen from organic waste, patented in Japan, Indonesia, Australia, China, and Canada.

• Unconfirmed

  Ways2H and Japan Blue Energy complete Tokyo hydrogen facility[6]Ways2H与Japan Blue Energy完成东京氢能设施建设chemicalonline.com

  Ways2H and Japan Blue Energy announced completion of a Tokyo facility designed to convert sewage sludge into renewable hydrogen. The companies said they planned to ramp up operations by mid-2021.

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1. 1会社情報 – JBEC | 株式会社JBECjbec.jp
2. 2沿革 – JBEC | 株式会社JBECjbec.jp
3. 3ビジョン – JBEC | 株式会社JBECjbec.jp
4. 4アクセス – JBEC | 株式会社JBECjbec.jp
5. 5Japan Blue Energy Co., Ltd. (Japan) - Wikidatawikidata.org
6. 6Ways2H与Japan Blue Energy完成东京氢能设施建设chemicalonline.com
7. 7Ways2H Shareholder Japan Blue Energy Launches Tokyo Renewable Hydrogen Production Facilityhydrocarbononline.com