said Tuesday that it will conduct the world's first trial to produce hydrogen gas, or biohydrogen, using sugar cane and other leftover farm produce jointly with Brazil's state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro S.A., known as Petrobras, in Brazil in September.
The project is aimed at selling the eco-friendly hydrogen gas as a fuel for cars and for industrial use within 10 years, using food materials or inedible parts of farm produce created in the course of farming and biofuel production, the Japanese beer producer said.
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Electronics device shipments drop in Feb. for 5th monthly fall
TOKYO - Shipments of electronic devices in Japan fell 14.6 percent in February from a year earlier to 192 billion yen, slipping below a year-before level for the fifth straight month, due to sluggish consumer spending amid the economic slump, an industry report showed Tuesday.
In sync with slumping car sales since last fall, demand for auto-related equipment, including car navigation systems, has been falling markedly, with shipments plunging 44.7 percent to 38.7 billion yen, the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association said.
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Joint Sumitomo-Saudi Aramco petrochemical plant to begin working
TOKYO - The Japanese petrochemical industry may experience a wave of realignments as a gigantic petrochemical plant, jointly built in Saudi Arabia by Sumitomo Chemical Co. and Saudi Arabian Oil Co., will start operating at the end of March, industry officials said Tuesday.
As Sumitomo Chemical plans to export products from the plant to China and other large consumers at low prices made possible by the availability of low-cost materials in the oil-rich kingdom, Japanese rivals are worried about suffering steep falls in exports, they said.
