SubjectⅠ
Development of Super DAC rice with enhanced CO2 absorption and fixation capacity
-source capacity/sink capacity
-carbon utilization efficiency
-genome editing technology
Image: A future in which crops that absorb a lot of CO2 are grown for recovery and conversion as resources.
PROJECT
New decarbonization technologies need to be developed to counter greenhouse gas emissions. This requires the development of technologies to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere (direct air capture, DAC). Crops absorb CO2 during photosynthesis and fix its carbon as biomass. Our goals are to develop crops with dramatically improved carbon-fixation capacity, and to realize a novel agricultural industry (DAC agriculture) that will enhance the conversion of the biomass into useful materials.
NEWS
RESEARCH
SubjectⅡ
Research on carbon fixation by increasing crop biomass
-maize/sorghum
-related wild species
-soil carbon storage
SubjectⅢ
Evaluation of economic value and environmental load of resource utilization process in DAC agriculture
-life cycle assessment
-techno-economic assessment
-characterization of biomass
MEMBER
Ambition of Project manager
Crop biomass is attracting attention as a renewable raw material resource for the production of valuable materials such as biofuels and bioplastics, but it is difficult to achieve both biomass production and food production. Genome sequencing has made great progress in understanding crop genes, but it is not yet possible to modify gene functions routinely and use them in plant breeding.
With the recent availability of genome-editing technology that modifies only specific genes, new developments in breeding are expected, and opportunities to dramatically improve crop production are becoming available. Until now, agriculture has been an essential industry for food production, but it has also been an industry that places a burden on the environment. Through the DAC agriculture that we are building, we aim to realize a new type of agriculture that can contribute to sustainable conservation of the global environment.
Masahiro YANO
NARO
Research Center for Agricultural Information Technology
Senior executive researcher
PUBLICATION
