Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) announced that it selected a consortium led by Kyoto University as its joint research partner for the "Fundamental Scientific Research Project on Advanced Storage Batteries," which is slated to start in fiscal 2009.

This project is aimed at developing a storage battery that has more than three times the energy density achieved by existing technologies, with the view to commercializing it for applications such as electric vehicles (EVs) as early as possible before 2030. The length of the project is seven years, and it has a total budget of ¥21 billion (approx US$214 million).

In addition to Kyoto University, six other universities, three research institutions and 12 companies are participating in the consortium. The participating companies include leading automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and Honda R&D Co. Ltd. as well as battery manufacturers such as Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. and GS Yuasa Corp.

(Pictured Above: From the left, Zempachi Ogumi, Kyoto University's specially appointed professor, Shuji Yumitori, director of Power Storage Technology Development Division in NEDO's Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technology Development Department, and Sadao Wasaka, executive director at NEDO.)

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