As part of the JST Solve for SDGs research project “Establishment and Development of Self-Sustaining Decarbonised Smart Farmland Using Solar Sharing”, for which Chiba Eco-Energy Corporation is a collaborating implementer, a “Decarbonised Smart Farmland Study Group Kick-off Webinar” will be held with the Kurasaka Laboratory, Graduate School of Social Sciences, Chiba University, which is the principal investigator. Kick-off of the Farmland Research Group.

The launch of the Decarbonising Smart Farmland Study Group is based on the research that has been carried out by this research project so far, and the need to expand the initiative widely throughout Japan, as well as the challenges faced by practitioners who are actually involved in solar sharing (farm-based solar power generation) in various regions and the future prospects of solar power generation, It is also essential to disseminate the initiative in a way that takes into account the challenges faced by practitioners of solar sharing in various regions and their vision for the future.

The keynote speaker, Hiroyuki Suematsu, former Administrative Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, spoke about the expectations for solar sharing and smart agriculture, and three practitioners presented case studies. The panel discussion will also include Professor Kurasaka of Chiba University’s Graduate School of Social Sciences, who is the project’s principal researcher, and will address future research activities, solutions to problems in the field and smart agriculture.

The project is a part of the 2022 ‘Co-creative Research and Development Programme for Achieving the SDGs (Solve for SDGs)’ promoted by the Research and Development Centre for Social Technology (RISTEX) of the National Science and Technology Agency (JST), with Prof. Hidefumi Kurasaka of the Graduate School of Social Sciences at Chiba University as the project leader and Chiba Eco Energy Ltd. as the co-implementing organisation. The research project ‘Establishment and development of self-sustaining, decarbonised smart farmland using solar sharing’ was selected for the solution creation phase of the ‘Solve for SDGs’ programme promoted by RISTEX in FY2022. The research has started in FY2022, centred on Chiba Eco Energy Co.’s operating solar farm in Ogido-machi, Midori-ku, Chiba City.