By Dr. Tatsuki Toda
Faculty of Science and Engineering, Soka University, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-8577, Japan
How will we re -establish a modern water-recycling society? The answer to this question may be realized by two key technologies, nutrient recovery technologies through aerobic and anaerobic fermentation, and bioproduction technologies such as microalgal mass culture and hydroponic cultivation. Three recent and ongoing projects in Japan, Malaysia, and Ethiopia to recover nutrients from unused organic waste and produce microalgae are introduced.
The first project, “Novel Lake Ecosystem Management by Sustainable Harvesting and Effective Utilization of Aquatic Weed Biomass” supported by Ministry of the Environment, Japan, aims to establish a modern lake -oriented recycling and symbiotic society around Lake Biwa, Japan. In this project, over population of aquatic weeds are sustainably harvested in order to conserve the lake ecosystem. Harvested aquatic weed biomass is treated by methane fermentation processes to obtain bioenergy, and remaining nutrients are used for production of microalgae as functional foo d supplements and animal feed. The second project, “Continuous Operatio n System for Microalgae Production Optimized for Sustainable Tropical Aquaculture (COSMOS)” is an international collaboration between Japan and Malaysia supported by JICA, JST and MOE Malaysia. The COSMOS project aims to enhance aquaculture production thro ugh improvement of the culture environment and innovate new technologies. Further, the project will establish a novel microalgae mass culture system using recycled nutrients from aquaculture waste. The third project recently started from 2018 called, “Plankton Eco- engineering” as a new interdisciplinary research field by integrating methane fermentation technology and microalgal mass culture, and aims to establish a sustainable recycling- oriented society in collaboration with Ethiopia.
The goals of all projects are to research and develop environmental technology appropriate for respective countries with plentiful natural sunlight, and to innovate new industrial infrastructures through the commercialization of native phytoplankton species, and to foster young engineers and entrepreneurs through environmental, business and economic education.
About the plenary keynote speaker:
The second Plenary Keynote Address will feature Dr. Tatsuki Toda, Professor, Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, at Soka University; Project Leader of Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS by JST-JICA).
Professor Toda received a doctoral degree from the University of Tokyo (Japan). As a Professor at Soka University, he is attached to the Department of Science and Engineering for Sustainable Innovation, Faculty of Science and Engineering. His main research activities are environmental dynamic analysis, environmental impact assessment/environmental policy, environmental technology/environmental material, resource maintenance studies, earth resources system engineering, form/structure, living organisms, diversity/classification, and general fishery studies. Dr. Toda has an extensive academic output, including five books in joint works, 194 published papers, 3966 citations, 221 conference presentations and talks and 27 honor awards for his conference activities. He has been awarded a grant from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, in the project “Creating marine forests that can withstand herbivory,” July 2017 – March 2020. Dr. Toda is one of the principal investigators of the Japan Science Technology Agency Project for Continuous Operation System for Microalgae Production Optimized for Sustainable Tropical Aquaculture (COSMOS): Preserving Malaysia’s ecosystem through microalgae “aquatic jewels,” 2015 – 2022. Dr. Toda was Director of the Center for Cooperative Research and Development of Environmental Technology and currently serves as Dean of the School of Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Soka University, Japan.