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- The KAITEKI Institute, Inc.
In this, the 21st century, we humans face diverse issues including destruction of global environmental, depletion of natural resources, the shortage of food and water, and access to quality healthcare. The Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings (MCHC) Group asks itself what it can do to solve these problems and achieve KAITEKI, a state that is comfortable not only for human beings but for all of society and the planet, and which is truly sustainable. In seeking solutions with a 20-50 year perspective, the MCHC Group established The KAITEKI Institute, Inc. (TKI), in April 2009.
TKI has four major missions. First, it collects and analyzes information to forecast future changes in society, predicts needs and wants that will arise from the changes, and provides the information to MCHC Group companies. The second mission is to contemplate new business concepts for responding to such needs and wants and researching core technologies that will be the keys to the concepts. Third, based on the outcomes of research and investigations, TKI will propose businesses to be rolled out by the MCHC Group. Its fourth and final mission is to inform the public of the concept of KAITEKI, advocate and spread it in society, and introduce new culture to the MCHC Group.
Research Fields of TKI
The breadth of investigations and research undertaken by TKI is expressed with three keywords – Sun (SOL), Water (AQUA) and Life (VITA); which respectively symbolize environment and energy, water and food, and lives and lifestyles, all of which are essential for patting KAITEKI into practice. TKI differs greatly from conventional corporate research institutes in that it does not have its own experiment facilities but maintains a network with leading research institutes around the world, with a policy of promoting research by entrusting it to those institutes or in collaboration with them. This enables TKI to respond flexibly to the constant flow of newly arising issues.
TKI has dual functions – as a think tank and for research. If conventional research institutes are oriented to monozukuri (manufacturing), TKI is an organization oriented to kotozukuri (innovating). It aims to go to the lengths necessary to create systems that attain KAITEKI.
Evaluation meeting of the Advisory Board
To achieve these goals, TKI consists of members of operational companies of the MCHC Group, and contents of ongoing investigations and research are evaluated by an Advisory Board composed of experts from inside and outside the companies. The Advisory Board meets twice yearly to evaluate the above mentioned topics and examine TKI's direction.
TKI members return to their Group companies, where they are expected to contribute to them by making use of the knowledge about future society and abilities for making plans and proposals that they obtained at TKI.
TKI's network and examples of research subjects
TKI is working toward concrete achievements. One example, in the SOL category, is recycling of CO2 using algae. This research is entrusted to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), led by Professor James Liao. The objective is to produce alcohol efficiently from CO2 by using cyanobacteria (a blue-green algae), which has high cell growth potential. This requires design of a metabolic pathway1 from CO2 to alcohol. Metabolic pathways from glucose to butanol are currently examined based on a metabolic pathway newly designed through genetic modification with E. coli as the host. The target for 2010 was to produce 2 grams of butanol per reaction volume of 1 liter. The researchers have modified genes that enable production of 30 grams of butanol, far exceeding the target. They also confirmed butanol production with blue-green algae.
Cyanobacteria
Blue-green algae culture apparatuses
1Metabolic pathway: Metabolism refers to transformations of matter, or chemical reactions, which happen in living organisms to maintain life. A metabolic pathway is a pathway of those transformations of matter. Examples include glycolysis, citric acid cycle, and fatty acid metabolism.
Research in the AQUA field includes a study on water-saving agricultural technologies. This is a joint project between Mebiol Inc. (Hiratsuka-city, Kanagawa Prefecture), the Department of Primary Industries (Victoria, Australia) and TKI. This project examines a cultivation method applying a hydro-membrane developed by Mebiol Inc. A field trial carried out in Victoria using tomatoes has shown favorable results. It demonstrated that the method required only two-thirds of the water of conventional hydroponic culture for producing the same amount of tomatoes, yet increased the sugar content by 20%.
Tomatoes grown in Mebiol's system with low water usage and high sugar content.
The plant and culture solution are separated from each other (information provided by Mebiol Inc.).
Book authored by President Kobayashi
As its fourth mission indicates, it is also an important duty of TKI to inform the public of the philosophy of KAITEKI and advocate it in society. As the first step under this mission, TKI published a book titled "Good Chemistry for KAITEKI" (Hankyu Communications Co., Ltd.) in December 2010. The book shows the ideas of its author, President Yoshimitsu Kobayashi, about KAITEKI. An English translation of the book was published, too.
TKI opened KAITEKI CAFE on the 1st floor of MCHC's head office building in April 2011. This is designed to be a place for advocating the concept of KAITEKI directly to the public.
A new style of cafe, suggesting KAITEKI
The cafe serves dishes using vegetables from plant factories and food the producer of which is clearly known. The floor is illuminated by white LED lighting, a product that Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation focuses on. Water used in the cafe is purified with CLEANSUI made by Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd.
In addition to the items mentioned, TKI is also committed to introducing new culture to the company. In one example of this, it organizes lecture meetings by inviting key figures.
The MCHC Group focuses on the period until 2025 when considering its management. TKI makes predictions and undertakes research from an even longer-term perspective, which allows it to think differently from operational companies. Our past data show that the MCHC Group's business fields have been changing significantly according to the years.
In short, TKI contributes to the concept of KAITEKI by looking at society from an extremely long-term perspective and leads businesses toward the future.
Eiji TanakaIn the wake of every new major invention, such the steam engine or fixation of atmospheric nitrogen, mankind has significantly expanded its range of activities on the planet. In the 21st century, our activities have finally reached a point where they influence the conditions of the Earth itself. This has resulted in growing concerns about the sustainability of our species. We can say we are in an era when our most important task as humans is to consider how to pass on a comfortable global environment to the next generation, instead of only pursuing our own satisfaction and comfort.
This is the very objective behind the founding of TKI. Watch for the activities of TKI, which continues to pursue answers to the questions of "What do we need to put KAITEKI into practice for people in the future?" and "What should we do now to achieve this?" in the three fields of SOL, AQUA and VITA, and which amasses wisdom from around the world for solving global issues.
