Power generation from sweet potatoes? Kirishima Shuzo's sweet potato beer
Today, we are introducing the sustainable efforts of Kirishima Shuzo, who is known for their shochu "Kuro Kirishima". Kirishima Shuzo is made with sweet potatoes from Kyushu, but they are also using its by-products to generate energy.
During the program, we talked to Mr. Yamauchi of the Planning Office of Kirishima Shuzo Co., Ltd. about a thorough approach that does not waste materials.
Kirishima Shuzo has succeeded in producing biogas from by-products such as shochu lees and potato dregs, as fuel for factories, and as a power generation business used by ordinary households. The power generated by the sweet potato is about 8.5 million kilos per hour annually. This is equivalent to the annual power consumption of 2,400 households.
At Kirishima Shuzo, in addition to what they have been working on, such as recycling and generating sweet potatoes, a new sustainability project called the "KIRISHIMA SATSUMAIMO CYCLE-Sweet potatoes for energy" aimed at the future has been announced.
In November, we installed an EV charging station that is powered by sweet potatoes in the company, and introduced four company cars that run on the power generated sweet potatoes under the name of "Sweet potato EV e-imo". They are also working with the local community so that they can be rented as a power source for evacuation shelters in the local community in the event of a disaster.
In addition, there are currently 130 Kirishima Shuzo company cars, all of which are scheduled to be electrified by 2030.
Kirishima Shuzo's wonderful initiative to utilize the by-products produced in the process of producing shochu as "energy" instead of treating them as "garbage" is effectively utilizing them not only in-house but also with the local community.
Originally Aired February 6th, 2022
J-WAVE「Make my day HUMMINGBIRD SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE」
https://www.j-wave.co.jp/original/makemyday/sustainable/
Radiko