Modern biofuel plant (Illustrative photo from depositphotos.com)

Japan will provide Ukraine with all the necessary technologies for the large-scale development of the biofuel industry, Kyodo News reported, citing sources within the Japanese government.

The official announcement of the technology transfer is expected on February 19 during the Japanese-Ukrainian conference on supporting economic reconstruction.

Tokyo expects biofuel technologies to create a new industry in Ukraine, according to the publication.

It is expected that Japanese companies will agree to provide technology and equipment for the production of renewable energy from biofuels.

Biofuel, produced from agricultural and livestock waste, can be used to generate electricity.

"If the business takes off, it will provide promising export products for Ukraine and potentially help increase the country's foreign currency inflow," the publication quotes a representative of the Japanese government.

The Japanese government is studying Ukraine's needs ahead of the meeting and aims to provide medium and long-term support through private investment in the energy, healthcare, and infrastructure sectors, sources added.

In addition to biofuels, Japan is also considering the possibility of providing 3D-printed prosthetic legs and technologies for treating post-traumatic stress disorder.

According to sources, Japan also plans to support the implementation of remote medical services and smart agriculture technologies in Ukraine.

Reference
Ukraine has enough biomass to replace all imported gas and coal, but the pace of bioenergy development in Ukraine is significantly lower than European indicators, according to the Bioenergy Association of Ukraine. In 2020, Ukrainian bioenergy replaced 5.2 billion cubic meters of gas (data for 2021-2022 are not published due to the state of war). Ukraine plans to increase biogas production to 500 million cubic meters by 2023 and to produce about 8 billion cubic meters of biomethane annually by 2050.