World's First Demonstration of Chemical Production from Waste Using Light to Be Conducted in Sennan City

The Kansai Innovation Center (hereinafter, MUIC Kansai) and Photo-OD-Chem Co., Ltd. (hereinafter, Photo-OD-Chem) will begin a demonstration experiment on Photo-Driven On-Demand Synthesis Technology※ (hereinafter, 'Photo-Making') in Sennan City, in collaboration with Sennan City, the National University Corporation Kobe University, Vioce Co., Ltd., and Ikeda Shonan Bank.

This initiative has been selected as part of MUIC’s problem-solving program and is being advanced as an open innovation program aimed at creating new businesses through co-creation among diverse companies and organizations to address societal challenges.

※Photo-Driven On-Demand Synthesis Technology: A low-environmental-impact and highly safe chemical synthesis technology that uses methane, oxygen, and chlorine as raw materials. By irradiating a mixture of these gases with light, it triggers a chemical reaction that instantly produces useful chemicals.

## Overview of Implementation

Using Sennan City as a field site, this project will advance the process of producing valuable chemicals using 'Photo-Making' technology with biogas derived from natural waste. The main details are as follows:

- **Partners**: MUIC Kansai, Photo-OD-Chem Co., Ltd., Sennan City, National University Corporation Kobe University, Vioce Co., Ltd., Ikeda Shonan Bank
- **Demonstration Period**: June 2026 – End of November 2026
- **Location**: Sennan City, 'KOBE Photo-Making Open Innovation Hub' (Kobe University)
- **Raw Materials**: Food waste such as vegetable scraps, stranded green algae (Aosa), and sewage
- **Main Objectives**: Scaling up and improving the efficiency of the 'Photo-Making' chemical production process, and expanding the range of natural waste used as raw materials
- **Process**:
1. Collect natural waste materials in Sennan City
2. Generate biogas from natural sources (a mixture of approximately 60% methane and 40% CO₂)
3. Produce useful chemicals using 'Photo-Making' with biogas as the raw material
4. Evaluation and performance measurement

### Key Roles of Participating Organizations

- **MUIC Kansai**: Support in planning the demonstration and providing funding to advance the project
- **Photo-OD-Chem**: Technology provision, experimental design, production, and analytical evaluation
- **Sennan City**: Securing raw materials and coordinating the demonstration field
- **Kobe University**: Research collaboration and support
- **Vioce**: Methane fermentation process from raw materials
- **Ikeda Shonan Bank**: Coordination and facilitation among stakeholders

## Details of the Demonstration

### Background

Achieving carbon neutrality requires effective utilization of waste and unused resources such as methane gas. Recycling waste and leveraging underused resources are critical social challenges from the standpoint of reducing environmental impact.

The chemical industry is under pressure to reduce its dependence on petroleum-based raw materials. Producing chemicals from natural raw materials is expected to become a new manufacturing model that enables low environmental impact and decentralized production.

Photo-OD-Chem has been advancing R&D on 'Photo-Making' using natural waste as raw materials and successfully demonstrated, in FY2025, the production of useful chemicals using methane gas derived from stranded green algae on Sennan City’s coast.

To scale up this initiative, MUIC Kansai is connecting diverse stakeholders from industry, government, academia, and finance, constructing a demonstration field, coordinating among partners, and consistently supporting commercialization toward social implementation.

### Demonstration Details

Unused resources such as vegetable scraps and food waste from school meal processing in Sennan City, along with stranded green algae, will be fed into Vioce’s methane fermentation system to generate biogas.

The generated biogas will be used at the 'KOBE Photo-Making Open Innovation Hub' established by Kobe University to produce isocyanate, a raw material for polyurethane.

Over approximately six months, the quantity and quality of isocyanate production will be evaluated to verify the process’s reproducibility and safety.

### Technology Overview (What is 'Photo-Making'?)

This is a world-first science and technology originating from the Kansai region that uses 'methane' (the main component of biogas generated from sewage, livestock manure, and organic waste), 'chlorine' (produced by electrolysis of seawater), and 'oxygen' (from air) as raw materials. By irradiating them with light, it instantly produces useful chemicals such as pharmaceutical intermediates, fragrances, and adhesives.

Photo-OD-Chem is conducting R&D to use this technology safely and with low environmental impact, aiming to produce small-volume, high-value chemicals to contribute to the chemical industry.

## Future Outlook

Based on the results of this demonstration, the project aims to further scale up and commercialize the process by utilizing unused local resources.

Natural biogas, previously limited mainly to fuel applications, will be utilized as a 'resource,' contributing to the reduction of both methane (with a global warming potential approximately 25 times that of CO₂) and CO₂, while accelerating the transformation into high-value chemicals.