ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that ITOCHU, ITOCHU ENEX CO., LTD. (headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Tomofumi Yoshida, Representative Director, President and CEO; hereinafter “ITOCHU ENEX”), Isuzu Motors Limited (headquartered in Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa; Shinsuke Minami, President and Representative Director, COO; hereinafter “ISUZU”), KAJIMA CORPORATION (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Hiromasa Amano, President, Representative Director; hereinafter “KAJIMA”), Konoike Construction Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Osaka-shi, Osaka; Hiroki Watatsu, President; hereinafter “KONOIKE”), SHIMIZU CORPORATION (headquartered in Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Kazuyuki Inoue, President and Representative Director; hereinafter “SHIMIZU”) and TAKENAKA CORPORATION (headquartered in Osaka-shi, Osaka; Masato Sasaki, President; hereinafter “TAKENAKA”) jointly applied to participate in the Carbon Neutral Technology Development and Verification Project 2023 offered publicly by Osaka Prefecture and have been chosen. The companies will implement verification for the achievement of carbon neutrality utilizing renewable diesel (hereinafter, “RD”) in the construction and transport sectors, looking ahead to the Osaka, Kansai, Japan Expo (hereinafter the “Expo”) in 2025.

Leveraging the opportunity of the Expo, a global event, Osaka Prefecture has been implementing this project since last year, aiming to support companies taking on the development and verification of technologies that contribute to carbon neutrality. As joint application of ITOCHU and ITOCHU ENEX a “verification project for the achievement of carbon neutrality utilizing RD in the construction and transport sectors,” was selected last year.

Having those additional participants, ISUZU, KAJIMA, KONOIKE, SHIMIZU and TAKENAKA joined this year, the measures to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions derived from construction work and transport for the Expo were selected following last year. ITOCHU will procure RD from Neste,* the world’s largest producer of renewable products, while ISUZU will conduct engine tests and studies with a view toward the use of Neste RD in trucks and industrial machinery with the goal of providing warranties. Meanwhile, ITOCHU ENEX will expand the supply network in Osaka Prefecture and KAJIMA, KONOIKE, SHIMIZU and TAKENAKA will verify the RD’s use in construction work for the Expo.