BookTitleToyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Summary

Toyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Development Organization (NEDO) project in Hokkaidofor growing rapeseed and sunflowers to use in theproduction of biodiesel fuels and for which ToyotaTsusho had already started verification to demonstratebusiness feasibility.In spring 2014, in a joint project with KyushuUniversity, Fukuoka-shi, and Mitsubishi Kakoki, ToyotaTsusho started to verify a system that provided hydrogenproduced from the biogas of sewage sludge to fuel cellvehicles (FCVs). In this system, high-purity hydrogenis produced from methane, the principal component ofthe biogas produced during processing at sewage andwastewater treatment facilities, and then the hydrogenis provided to the FCVs via hydrogen filling stations.Moreover, the carbon dioxide produced in the hydrogenproduction process is collected separately from thehydrogen and provided for greenhouse cultivation to alsocontribute to the creation of a recycling-based society.Effective use of local resources is an important issuegiven the low energy self-sufficiency rate in Japan, andthese efforts are an acknowledgment of this.7 Investment in Venture CompaniesIn June 2015, Toyota Tsusho received a privateplacement of new shares of 3D Media (currently KyotoRobotics), a venture company of Ritsumeikan University.Toyota Tsusho concluded a basic investment agreementto hold 7.1% of the company. Toyota Tsusho alsoinvested in Omron Ventures Co., Ltd., a 100%-ownedsubsidiary of Omron Corp. that funds venture companies.In collaboration with Omron Corp. and 3D Media andsupported by top runner in industry-academia cooperationRitsumeikan University, Toyota Tsusho began workingto automate the manufacturing industry by utilizing theworld’s first 3-D vision sensor technology.8 Entry into the Airport Operations BusinessIn November 2015, Toyota Tsusho participated in aproject to manage Sendai International Airport, the firstprivatized domestic airport in Japan. Toyota Tsusho wasjoined by the Tokyu Group and Maeda Corp., to form theSendai International Airport consortium, which invitedairlines, set the landing fees, and selected shops for thefacility. Toyota Tsusho had a track record going back tothe Tomen era as the first case of a Japanese companymanaging an overseas airport at Wattay InternationalAirport located in Vientiane, the capital of Lao PDR.Toyota Tsusho believed it could utilize its general tradingcompany functions, such as logistics, and its expertisein this field to successfully operate Sendai InternationalAirport.9 Participation in Carbon Fiber RecyclingProjectsIn February 2016, the development of high-efficiencyrecycling carbon fiber manufacturing technology by usinginnovative energy-saving thermal decomposition methodsthat Toyota Tsusho and Toray Industries had beenengaged in was set to be adopted in NEDO’s FY2015Strategic Energy Technology Innovation Program. Incarbon fiber recycling, the largest energy consumptionis in the thermal decomposition process. With ToyotaTsusho’s and Toray Industries’technology, flammabledecomposition gas from matrix resin is used as fuel toenable substantial reductions in fuel consumption. Withits pilot facilities constructed at the Toyota ChemicalEngineering’s Handa plant, Toyota Tsusho continued todemonstrate the viability of energy-saving recyclableSendai International AirportHistory129