AGC (Headquarters: Tokyo; President: Yoshinori Hirai), a world-leading manufacturer of glass, chemicals, and high-tech materials, has announced together with Air Water Inc. (Headquarters: Osaka; CEO: Kikuo Toyoda) that it has joined the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on a joint study into activities for the establishment of a carbon neutral industrial complex in the Goi district of Ichihara City and the Soga district of Chiba City in Japan’s Chiba Prefecture. This MoU was concluded at the end of 2022 by Yokogawa Electric Corporation (Headquarters: Musashino City, Tokyo; President and CEO: Hitoshi Nara) and nine companies^*1 with plants in the industrial complex in the Goi and Soga districts. The joint project aims to realize a sustainable society and enhance the international competitiveness of the industrial complex in the districts by studying measures to achieve carbon neutrality among companies in diverse industries. The Chiba Plant and AGC Group companies, which manufactures chemical products, are located in these districts.

Source: Yokogawa Electric Corporation press release materials

In this joint study, Yokogawa Electric Corporation and nine companies in diverse industries in the districts, including energy, petrochemical, chemical, steel, materials, will aim to collaborate and study the commercialization of activities including the following by around 2030 and study the measures that will be required to make the Goi and Soga industrial complex carbon neutral by 2050.

(1) Introduction of an inter-industry energy management system to minimize CO₂ emissions

(2) The recovery and effective utilization of CO₂ through inter-industry collaboration

(3) Reduction in CO₂ emissions through inter-industry collaboration in the utilization of hydrogen and other by-product gasses from existing processes

The AGC Group has set “promoting sustainability management” as one of the key strategies in its medium-term management plan, AGC plus-2023, and has set a target of net-zero carbon emissions^*2 by 2050. Based on this joint study, AGC will promote inter-industry collaboration in the industrial complex to further promote measures to achieve carbon neutrality and contribute to the realization of a sustainable global environment.