From booze to bioenergy: Japanese factory to convert waste from shochu production into fuel

Anabuki Housing Service Corporation, a condominium management company, held an inauguration ceremony on April 7, 2021 for its Shochu Bioenergy Miyazaki Nichinan Plant in Nichinan City, Miyazaki Prefecture.

Since 2014, the company has been working closely with the University of Miyazaki in a public-private collaboration to refine ethanol for biofuel from the waste generated in the process of making shochu, a type of distilled alcohol famous in Miyazaki Prefecture. In so doing, they have aimed at solving the problem of processing shochu waste.

In recent years, some major manufacturers have installed equipment in their factories to treat shochu waste liquid and convert it into feed and fertilizer, but many companies find it difficult to invest in such equipment and instead ask a contractor to treat their waste liquid for nearly 10,000 yen per ton, which cuts into their profits. Anabuki Housing Service Corporation aims to address this problem and make it easier for shochu distilleries to process their waste.

Towards this end, they began operating a demonstration plant in November 2017 to produce ethanol for biofuel from shochu waste liquid on the premises of the Universit of Miyazaki.

And now, they have inaugurated the Shochu Bioenergy Miyazaki Nichinan Plant.

Through this project, Anabuki Housing Service Corporation seeks to promote sustainable development in order to achieve SDG goal 7 (Make energy clean and available to all) and 9 (Create a foundation for industry and technological innovation).