Japan’s Mitsubishi Group [8058:JP] will invest USD100m in the Breakthrough Energy Catalyst program (Catalyst), which is supported by Bill Gates to speed up the deployment of green innovations such as hydrogen power, as reported by Nikkei Asia on April 22. Specifically, the Catalyst program was initiated in October 2021 with an expected combined investment of USD15.6bn. The program initially aimed to realize energy transformation through technologies including carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS). The Japanese company joined the program to contribute its expertise in decarbonization technologies and its connections with other participants of the Catalyst program. Including Mitsubishi, the scheme now has 12 anchor partners, such as Microsoft [MSFT:US], Shell [SHEL:US], General Motors [GM:US], and HSBC [HSBC:US].
The Catalyst program now focuses on four domains, including hydrogen, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), recovery of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and long-term energy storage. Joining the scheme could pave way for Mitsubishi’s decarbonization push. Last October, the company committed JPY2tr (USD17.54bn) of investment by 2030 on alternative energies such as renewables and hydrogen, aiming to cut its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by half by 2030 on 2020 levels and reach net-zero emissions by 2050. In February 2022, Mitsubishi [8058:JP] and another Japanese trading house Mitsui [8031:JP] teamed up to help develop a CCUS project in western Australia, a month after Japan and Indonesia inked partnerships to develop decarbonization technologies including hydrogen, ammonia, and CCUS.
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