TOKYO, April 26, 2023 – The 3DOM Alliance Group (including noco-noco Pte. Ltd., Binex Inc., and Freet Inc.) and Kyushu Sanko Group (including Kyushu Sanko Bus Co., Ltd., Sanko Bus Co., Ltd., and Kyushu Sanko Auto Service Co., Ltd.) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with the goal of realizing a carbon negative transport service by outfitting buses operated by Kyushu Sanko with fuel cells and cultivating sorghum to be used as feedstock for methanol fuel. The collaboration aims to eliminate CO2 from bus operations and absorb as much or more CO2 in sorghum cultivation than is emitted in the bus manufacturing process.
Buses operated by the Kyushu Sanko Group are an important form of transportation for local residents. The Kyushu Sanko Group, which is committed as a public transportation operator to supporting local communities and their environment, and the 3DOM Alliance Group, whose vision is to truly solve environmental issues, have come together to conclude this MOU amid a growing global need in recent years address the problem of global warming through decarbonization.
Per the MOU, the companies will combine the Kyushu Sanko Group’s trust from local residents cultivated over many years and know-how in operating public transportation infrastructure with the 3DOM Alliance Group’s technology and know-how (fuel cells equipped with the company’s core 3DOM membrane technology, long-life batteries equipped with the company’s X-SEPA™ separator, sorghum cultivation, synthesis of biomethanol as an alternative to oil, management system to create an optimal driving model for buses using a proprietary information management system, and generation of carbon credits from CO2 capture), beginning with biomethanol production from sorghum cultivation in the Kyushu region. The companies intend to conduct a proof of concept (“POC”) for fuel cell buses in 2025 and to plan a POC for electric buses.
Through this collaboration, the companies aim to make operations more environmentally friendly and efficient and realize a circular society suited to the lifestyles of people in the Kyushu region, including Kumamoto Prefecture, in which renewable energy is produced and consumed locally.