I have been appointed Director of the Advanced Chemical Energy Research Center, succeeding former Director Masayoshi Watanabe. I ask all involved for your continued assistance and understanding.

　The Department of Electrochemistry was created concurrently with the establishment of our university in 1949, and the traditions of the Department continue unbroken to this day as research filed of batteries, fuel cells, and various electrolysis. Moreover, vigorous research in the area of hydrogen energy has also evolved at the Institute of Advanced Sciences. The establishment of the Advanced Chemical Energy Research Center in October 2020 is meant to bring together researchers’ potential, which had been spread out in these different organizations within the University, in one place, as well as to accelerate academic research on chemical energy and the implementation of new technologies in the broader society.

　As we stated in our Mission, one of the most prominent issues that we are facing in the 21st century is the problem of energy and the environment. People have come to acknowledge that methods for obtaining energy that use vast amounts of fossil fuels, as have been employed so far, are no longer sustainable in terms of resources and in light of the problem of climate change. The efficient use of renewable energy is growing in importance, given the task of building a society that is sustainable from energy and environmental perspectives.

　The broader aim of the Advanced Chemical Energy Research Center is the further development of science and technology of chemical energy (the energy of matter), which covers efficient conversion of chemical energy into more readily usable electrical energy, inverse conversion of electrical energy into chemical energy for storage, and transportation energy carriers. In the pursuit of that aim, we hope to contribute to the efficient use of renewable energy and to help usher in a carbon neutral society.

　In the Center, we build networks of cooperation and collaboration among academia, industry, and governmental institutions, the Center contribute for social implementation of the advanced research of chemical energy.

Shigenori MITSUSHIMA,
Director of the Advanced Chemical Energy Research Center