On behalf of the symposium, it is my great pleasure to introduce you to the Second Symposium on Carbon Ultimate Utilization Technologies for the Global Environment (CUUTE-2), Nara, Japan, on 12th -15th November 2024.

The major themes of this conference will be ultimate carbon utilization and the establishment of carbon-neutral industries and society. Since the first symposium (CUUTE-1) was successfully convened in 2021, the social trend has drastically accelerated toward carbon neutrality from the mitigation of CO₂ emissions. As the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) considers carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions as the greatest contributor to global warming, it is indispensable to avoid the emission of CO₂ to the environment. Carbon, however, is an essential element for various materials, has high exergy, and has a wide variety of chemical and physical functions on the material properties. It is difficult to eliminate the use of carbon in our social and industrial activities. Therefore, it is necessary to establish the technologies for the ultimate use of carbon that will ultimately effectively utilize carbon, reduce its usage, and reduce CO₂ emissions down to the level at which carbon neutrality can be achieved.

The modern steel industry and other manufacturing sectors have achieved high energy savings and reduced CO₂ emissions. However, further challenges are required to further reduce carbon according to the demands of the times. This conference is organized to seek pathways for the ultimate utilization of carbon resources in the iron and steel industry and manufacturing industries to still have harmony with the global environment. Topics include utilization technology of carbon resources in iron and steel, chemical and manufacturing industries, CO₂ recovery, CO₂ utilization for the production of carbon materials, and industrial utilization of carbon materials. Also, include hydrogen, anmonia and energy carriers use for low-carbon industry establishment, and energy system assessment and life cycle assessment integrating the entire processes.

CUUTE-2 intends to gather domestic and international knowledge for the development of new low-carbon technologies and low-carbon processes. This conference will showcase innovation and technology, provide details of the latest industrial solutions to carbon utilization issues, and will demonstrate how industries and researchers are meeting the many challenges related to the issues.

I heartily welcome your participation in CUUTE-2 in the beautiful Autumn of Nara the Japanese old capital having 1300 years of history.

Hiroshi Nogami,
Chair of CUUTE-2, Tohoku University