Environment and Energy
Introducing advanced technologies for next-generation energy and resilient environmental adaptation
"Optimal Operation Technology for Fusion Reactors" and "Space-based Solar Power Generation"
Interview with Kazuya Akiyama, Group Leader
NTT Space Environment and Energy Laboratories was established in July 2020. It is a new research institution aiming to create technologies that will revolutionize the smart energy field, including next-generation energy sources, and reshape the global environmental landscape of the future, ultimately regenerating the earth's environment and fostering a sustainable and inclusive society. This time, we talked to Kazuya Akiyama, Group Leader of the Next Generation Energy Technology Group, one of the research groups encompassed by the Zero Environmental Impact Research Project.
◆PROFILE：
Joined NTT in 1997 and engaged in research in the field of environmental energy (was temporarily transferred to NTT West's Technology Innovation Department from 2009 to 2013). Appointed as General Manager of the Corporate Strategy Division at ENNET Corporation in 2015. Worked on the launch of a joint venture company at the Technology Planning Department of NTT in 2017. Worked in solution development and sales at NTT Facilities in 2018. Appointed as Group Leader of the Next Generation Energy Technology Group in the Zero Environmental Impact Research Project at the Space Environment and Energy Laboratories in July 2020.
About the Space Environment and Energy Laboratories
Please tell us about Space Environment and Energy Laboratories.
NTT originally had a research facility called the Environmental Energy Laboratory, where the company worked to reduce the power consumption of its telecommunications buildings and extend the lifespan of its telecommunications equipment, such as electricity poles and wires. The Environmental Energy Laboratory was then discontinued in the spring of 2015 with the intent of working on R&D together with operating companies. Five years later, in July 2020, the Space Environment and Energy Laboratories was launched in order to create technologies that will revolutionize the smart energy field, including next-generation energy sources, and reshape the global environmental landscape of the future, broadening our perspective beyond the NTT Group.
Two projects are underway at the Laboratories: the Zero Environmental Impact Research Project and the Resilient Environmental Adaptation Research Project (Figure 1).
The Zero Environmental Impact Research Project aims to handle research themes on which little work had previously been done by research institutions in the NTT Group. It consists of three groups: the Next-Generation Energy Technology Group, which studies technologies for utilizing next-generation energy sources; the Energy Network Technology Group, which studies virtual energy distribution platform technologies; and the Sustainable Systems Group, which studies CO2 conversion technologies and environmental impact reduction technologies.
The Resilient Environmental Adaptation Research Project, on the other hand, is a somewhat different project consisting of two groups: the ESG Management Science and Technology Group, which studies technologies for the management of ESG business risks, and the Proactive Environmental Adaptation Technology Group, which studies technologies for environmental adaptive risk management.
The Next Generation Energy Technology Group I am a member of focuses on the theme of creating clean and inexhaustible energy sources, and is working on two research themes: Optimal Operation Technology for Fusion Reactors and Space-Based Solar Power Generation.
Tell us about Optimal Operation Technology for Fusion Reactors.
On the topic of nuclear fusion, I am often asked, "How is it different from nuclear power plants?" The technology used in nuclear power plants is nuclear fission, which extracts the energy released when heavy atoms such as uranium are split.
By contrast, nuclear fusion extracts energy that is released when light atoms such as hydrogen fuse. While fission is a chain reaction that can continue indefinitely if left unchecked, nuclear fusion stops immediately if the atoms are not controlled with extreme precision.
To demonstrate the feasibility of nuclear fusion energy for peaceful purposes, an enormous international project (the ITER Project), which aims to build and operate the first nuclear fusion reactor in human history, is being carried out jointly by Japan, the European Union (EU), the United States, Russia, South Korea, China and India (Figure 2).
To achieve nuclear fusion in the ITER nuclear fusion test reactor, deuterium and tritium are first trapped in a donut-shaped magnetic field where they are turned into a plasma state and heated to 150 million degrees. The extraction of energy from this requires the steady and prolonged production of plasma, but to do so, a vast amount of data from the nuclear fusion reactor must be transferred to the control center, where the optimal figures are calculated and instantaneous feedback is provided. Further sophistication and lower latency of the control network are essential to achieve this, and we believe that the all-photonics network and disaggregated computing of the IOWN initiative, which is currently undergoing research and development by NTT, can contribute to this.
In the future, we plan to utilize digital twin computing to realistically reproduce the fusion reactor in cyberspace, which will also help to further improve control technology through advanced simulation and the prediction of future performance.
We are now considering whether IOWN can contribute to achieving first plasma in 2025.
Tell us about Space-Based Solar Power Generation.
Space-Based Solar Power Generation is based on the concept of generating solar power on a geostationary satellite in orbit at 36,000 kilometers above the earth, transferring the energy to the ground in the form of lasers or microwaves, and then converting it back into electricity and other forms of energy. On the orbit of a geostationary satellite, energy can be received from the sun almost 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and the process is not affected by the absorption and scattering of energy by the atmosphere of the earth. This allows steadily receiving approximately ten times more energy per unit area compared to ground facilities. We are trying an approach using lasers because the wavelength is three to four orders of magnitude shorter than microwaves, making the beam smaller and easier to transmit over long distances.
There are three major technical elements: the first is the technology to efficiently convert the energy of the sun into a laser, the second is the technology to accurately deliver the laser to a target on the ground, and the third is the technology to efficiently convert the laser coming from space into electricity or a non-electrical energy form and store it.
For the first, we are considering a spectral shift laser technology that shifts the wavelength components of the sunlight and converts them into a single color -- that is, a laser of a specific wavelength. Directly converting sunlight into a laser is expected to provide high conversion efficiency.
In addition, lasers that travel from space to the ground must be transmitted at high energy density over a very long distance, eliminating atmospheric fluctuations. In order to address this problem, for the second technology we are considering a method that utilizes a deep-focus optical system and a method for increasing energy density by superimposing multiple beams.
For the third technology, solar cells are usually used to convert energy into electricity, but the conversion efficiency of the common solar cells we are familiar with is only about 20%. The remaining 80% is lost as heat due to surface reflection, transmission and other factors. In addition to studying the elements that can efficiently change monochrome laser light, we are also considering how to temporarily store energy in different forms, such as hydrogen and ammonia, by using thermochemical reactions and catalysts. Could this technology be the key to realizing a hydrogen society?
Space Environment and Energy Laboratories has just been launched.
Please tell us about what the future holds.
In the ITER Project, first plasma is scheduled to begin in 2025 and full-scale testing in 2035. Review of commercial viability will take place at that time, and commercialization will likely take place in 2050 or later.
Research and development to achieve the optimal operation of fusion reactors are currently underway. I think that if we can create a solid use case for IOWN technology in this highly challenging project, technologies that use ultra-fast, low-latency networks to control equipment in real time, as well as technologies for the high-speed processing and transmission of large volumes of data can then be applied in other industries and fields as well.
The same also applies to Space-Based Solar Power Generation, which we currently aim to turn into a reality in the middle of the 21st century. This, too, is an extremely lengthy process that will take several decades. We are therefore hoping to contribute to society by isolating results obtained earlier on in the course of our research.
For example, the eventual goal is transmission over 36,000 kilometers, but instead of aiming to reach that goal immediately, the technology could be used to transmit energy over shorter distances by irradiating lasers, for example, onto moving objects such as drones and automobiles, or to transmit energy from NTT communication buildings to community centers and evacuation centers in disaster-stricken areas during emergencies.
What do you consider NTT's strengths to be?
One thing I feel is interesting about the NTT Group's research organizations is their lack of bias toward certain areas.
NTT is a telecommunications company, but its research fields are not limited to telecommunications, and it is engaged in a variety of research projects, including energy science and communication science. This allows experts in a variety of areas to come together and engage in dialogue. We also work with a variety of laboratories, such as the Information Network Laboratory Group on networking, and the Science and Core Technology Laboratory Group and the Service Innovation Laboratory Group on information processing, as well other research and planning divisions to conduct research within an "All NTT" framework.
We also have the extremely lofty vision of creating technologies that will revolutionize the smart energy field, including next-generation energy sources, and reshape the global environmental landscape of the future; in light of this, I think that one of NTT's strengths lies in its ability to conduct research as a flat organization.
Do you have a message to researchers and students?
The Space Environment and Energy Laboratories have only just been established, and we are currently facing challenges presented by new fields, so there are a lot of skills and know-how that we lack. We need experts not only in communications, but also in the areas of nuclear fusion and space. To compensate for this, we would like to continue to actively collaborate not only with the NTT Group, but also research institutions, universities and companies that possess a variety of technologies.
If this interview has piqued your interest, please visit our site to learn more. Also, besides the two research themes we discussed, I also hope you will visit the Space Environment and Energy Laboratories if you have any ideas for other technologies that will bring innovation to the field of energy. I think our laboratories will give you the chance to take your ideas as far as they can go.
Novel Challenges
NTT Space Environment and Energy Laboratories are looking for researchers and engineers from several fields to help us find new solutions to pressing worldwide issues.