Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 8 February 2024, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Uzbek-Japan Innovation Center of Youth (UJICY) signed an Agreement on the implementation of Technical Cooperation “Project for Development of Innovative Technologies for Efficient Generation of Green /Blue Hydrogen for Realization of Carbon-neutral Society with Consideration of Industrial and Environmental Characteristics in the Region”. 

This ceremony symbolizes the beginning of joint efforts to build models for research and implement the cutting-edge technologies for realizing a sustainable and resilient hydrogen society with strong linkage with academia and industry of Japan, as well as to promote the carbon neutrality in Central Asia region in a leading position.
 
The project is aimed at conducting the empirical research and developing the human resource on cutting-edge blue /green hydrogen-related technologies that makes use of Uzbekistan's geography, industrial structure, and environmental characteristics.

As a result of mutual cooperation, JICA expects to have good outcomes as follows within 5 years of project implementation period:

• Generation of «Blue» hydrogen by in-situ catalytic steam reforming in waste oil reservoirs in Uzbekistan;
• Production of «Green»　hydrogen by low-temperature steam electrolysis using solar energy and waste heat from industry in Uzbekistan;
• Improvement of power conversion efficiency and long-term operational durability of next-generation perovskite solar cells in environmental conditions of Uzbekistan;
• Synthesizing the novel photocatalytic composites for hydrogen production;
• Conducting the study on possibility of realization of carbon neutrality using hydrogen energy in Uzbekistan from techno-economical calculations and making suggestions to the government of Uzbekistan;
• Development of next-generation’s human resources who will lead the hydrogen society in Uzbekistan.

This project is expected to help to improve the ongoing efforts of the government in production of clean hydrogen energy by using innovative Japanese technologies and testing multiple new scientific approaches, and make progress in realizing a carbon-neutral society.