Department of Biosciences Faculty of Science and Faculty of Science and Engineering, Teikyo University
Professor
Tomoko Shinomura?
Completed the master's program at the Graduate Graduate School Life Sciences, University of Tsukuba in 1983. Joined Hitachi, Ltd. in 1984 and was assigned to the Central Research Laboratory, where he has been engaged in various researches. In 2000, he was awarded a doctoral degree in science from the University of Tsukuba. In the latter half of the 2000s, he participated in research on the removal of microbes from the ballast water of ships, and then on the growth of Euglena. Since April 2010, he has been appointed to the Faculty of Science and Technology of Teikyo Faculty of Science and Engineering as a Professor in the Plant Molecular Cell Science Laboratory, Department of Biosciences.
Biofuel conversion of microalgae is regaining attention as an important research theme. Professor Shinomura, a researcher of microalgae, is engaged in microalgae culture and ecological research with students.
(1) The theoretical value is that oil can be removed efficiently.
(2) The advantage is that it is carbon neutral.
However, there are issues to be cleared such as production costs, and it is still developing as industrial energy.
Microalgae have a narrow range of climatic conditions suitable for growth, and stable conditions cannot be ensured throughout the year in Japan. Even if the light is too strong, it will not grow, so we are also conducting research to create microalgae that are easier to grow.
Discovered that Pediastrum collected in a pond near the Utsunomiya Campus has the property of storing oil only for a certain period of time. It is quite possible that this Pediastrum is the best microalgae for biofuels, and the research may find the key to solving the SDGs problem.
