Gas Container Using Nobel Winner’s Technology Draw Attention

Jakarta, Feb. 7 (Jiji Press)–A gas container using a technology developed by Japanese Nobel Prize winner Susumu Kitagawa is drawing attention, with demonstration tests underway. The container, seen as a promising new means of transporting gas, uses metal-organic frameworks, for which Kitagawa won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry last year. The container is named CubiTan, made by Atomis Inc., a startup based in the western city of Kobe. Kitagawa, distinguished professor at Kyoto University, serves as adviser to the company. Using metal-organic frameworks, which have an enormous number of microscopic pores that can hold gases, the almost cubic container about 30 centimeters tall would enable more efficient gas transport than conventional gas cylinders. Atomis has held demonstration tests of the container in Indonesia since around 2022. It aims to commercialize the container in 2027 after testing it at households this year. In a press conference in Jakarta’s outskirts Wednesday, Kitagawa said that piped gas distribution networks in Indonesia are limited to urban areas and poorly developed in rural areas. “Demand for compact CubiTan is very high as gas needs to be delivered” in rural areas, he also said. Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of palm oil. During the production process of the oil, methane gas is generated. But the gas is not fully used due to the difficulty of transporting it. CubiTan makes it easier to transport locally produced methane gas. An increased use of the gas would allow Indonesia to lower its dependence on liquefied petroleum gas imports. In Japan, the use of gas containers such as CubiTan has not been approved because of strict regulations. Atomis plans to ask for deregulation by presenting data from demonstration tests. “Someday Japan may import this container system,” Kitagawa said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]