The Aiki Energy WG ToDo

This article aims to share what we are currently working on and pose the question: what can you do to contribute?

We fully understand that setting detailed plans or ROI too soon often results in nothing more than scraps of paper. While many people quickly ask about ROI or specific solutions, we are looking for teammates who resonate with our vision and are willing to jump into our garage without worrying about gains or losses.

This article is written for future teammates we have yet to meet.

The Blueprint

Our ultimate goal is to build a system that allows self-sufficient production of bioethanol, a gasoline alternative, from household food waste.

In a basic experiment inspired by Japanese sake production, we discovered that 200 kg of rice bran could yield approximately 20 liters of ethanol. If this could fill a 60-liter fuel tank once a month, it suggests the potential to produce the E30 blended fuel required monthly.

Reducing the use of imported crude oil, regional distribution from refineries, and fossil fuel-derived gasoline by 30% could significantly enhance energy efficiency.

A system requiring space for two drums of raw material storage tanks, one drum for a fermentation tank, and another for a distillation unit might be feasible for home installation.

Assuming the willingness to handle the fermentation and distillation process and that competition for rice bran doesn’t arise, realization may not be overly challenging.

Did you know that many imported vehicles available as used cars in Japan are already compatible with FlexFuel (ethanol-blended gasoline)? In the U.S., car enthusiasts involved in racing might already be familiar with commercially available Flex Fuel kits.

When I share this idea in Japan, some acquaintances react as if we’re envisioning the dream-like world of “Back to the Future Part 2,” where Doc powers the DeLorean with food waste.

If this system could achieve the same ease of use as Tesla’s battery charging, we might see a race to acquire rice bran. Hence, using materials with clear ownership (industrial waste) or public resources (waste collected at incineration plants or sewage sludge) could prevent environmental destruction akin to expanding sugarcane or corn fields for energy production.

Aiki Energy WG is committed to turning this vision into reality, and here is our ToDo list to make it happen.

Fermentation and Distillation Experiments

We are not fermentation experts, but we understand that “knowing what we don’t know” can be a powerful asset in a startup.

Our first step was conducting parallel fermentation and distillation experiments, inspired by Japanese sake production, to produce ethanol.

We aim to modify, replace, or augment existing technologies to simplify the process and meet energy demands. For example, the breakdown of lignin, often labeled as the nemesis of cellulose-based organic waste, typically requires high-energy processes like hydrothermal, explosive, or sulfuric acid treatment.

Our approach seeks alternatives such as discovering microorganisms that can break down lignin at ambient temperature and pressure within a day to a week, optimizing microbial populations through serial culture, or finding more natural evolutionary processes.

Even if decomposition takes a year, staggered processing—where materials are added and decomposed in phases—could allow stable ethanol production.

If energy must be used in the production process, we envision approaches controllable in daily life, like cutting, boiling, heating, or burning.

Our UX goal is to extend behaviors like homebrewing sake or miso or composting to save on food waste disposal into energy production. However, we know from experience that “inconvenience leads to abandonment.”

Addressing this requires aligning with people’s mindsets at any given time. While we haven’t set a UX benchmark yet, we understand it will emerge as we proceed.

Footprint Calculation App Development | For Small Communities

One insight from our experiments is that it would be exciting to identify recipes that produce the most ethanol.

After deciding to apply for the Climate Change AI Grant 2024, we found that our partners shared the same vision.

Our aim is to develop an app where users input the type and amount of household food waste to calculate energy output, medium composition, microbial combinations, fermentation byproducts, greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 and methane), and balanced energy systems.

This tool would be invaluable for process engineers in plant design and would shift fermentation process researchers from exploratory studies to demonstration-focused research.

The project’s core challenge is collecting structured time-series data on fermentation processes (e.g., hourly pH, ethanol concentration, methane emissions, microbial population distribution, and byproduct levels).

Using this data, we plan to develop models (AI or machine learning) for free apps that will continuously improve with added data. This process feels much like refining a recipe in cooking.

The key hurdle is ensuring data quality and consistent structure. As a former maintenance optimization consultant, I led projects structuring maintenance logs for plants and developing applications to calculate optimal maintenance timing. Data standardization and structuring were significant challenges.

To IT-savvy individuals like us, most “data” that businesses possess are not truly usable data. A similar dynamic appears to exist in the research world, based on my discussions with others.

Having learned how to navigate such challenges, I now seek approaches that harmonize with existing forces through patient and thoughtful dialogue. As the Japanese saying goes, “Slow and steady wins the race.”

Business Model Development

We are constantly exploring business possibilities.

Although developing a business model feels premature, creating a compelling model is essential for driving innovation.

Historically, many organizations and individuals have attempted to create business models leveraging bioenergy, yet success stories are few.

We believe our business model will emerge through continued experimentation and deep dialogue with energy professionals.

Fortunately, I excel in building meaningful conversations and intend to create more opportunities for dialogue moving forward. The key lies in how effectively I and Aiki Energy WG can communicate our value.

Being selected for the Climate Change AI Grant 2024 would be immensely significant for us as non-experts in this field.

Currently, we do not have a concrete business model, but we envision ideas such as the following:

• Observing how much organic waste flows through daily life.
• Identifying ways to harness natural energy.
• Finding unnoticed examples of energy use.

For instance, integrating ethanol fermentation tanks, disposers, and grass intake ports into homes with septic tanks, combined with distillation processes, could result in fully autonomous systems. Post-fermentation residues could be processed by conventional purification systems.

We aim to offer such systems at a target price of around 3 million yen.

Additionally, a subscription plan could continuously update fermentation environment control software based on fermentation data (location, input weight, pH, temperature, ethanol output, energy usage, etc.).

Such services may appeal to a niche affluent market, but our ultimate goal is to reduce the environmental impact of energy production and consumption as quickly as possible.

Therefore, we prioritize impact-based business models over purely financial ones. To explore this, we are currently focusing on visualizing the potential and demand for organic waste energy at a community level.

These results will be shared on this blog in the future.