Many countries around the world are keen to reduce CO₂ emissions. However, there are limits to emission reductions. Therefore, in the future "negative emission technology," which involves artificially capturing and fixing CO₂ from the atmosphere, will become indispensable.One such technology is DAC (Direct Air Capture Technology), which aims to capture CO₂ from the atmosphere using an engineering process, but requires innovative technology. NGK is leveraging its established ceramics knowhow for automotive emission control to contribute to the early practical application of DAC.

Today's highly information-driven society relies heavily on high-performance semiconductors. However, further miniaturization for improving their performance leads to increased manufacturing costs. One of the options to address this problem is "chiplet integration" technology. Instead of incorporating all necessary functions into a single chip, this approach involves creating chiplets (small chips) for each function and connecting them together to achieve the same functionality as a single chip. NGK offers support wafers, which enable chiplet integration.

Hydrogen is anticipated to be the next-generation energy source to replace fossil fuels because it does not emit CO₂ when combusted and can be produced from a wide range of materials. In particular, "green hydrogen," which is produced with renewable energy, is the key to realizing a carbon-free society. NGK’s NAS batteries play a significant role in the stable and highly efficient production of green hydrogen.

If safe and high-energy-density zinc rechargeable batteries are put into practical use, power resilience will increase, and it will be possible to quickly resume social and economic activities after natural disasters and accidents. By storing electricity generated by renewable energy, we can also contribute to carbon neutrality.

NGK has designed and delivered low-level radioactive waste treatment equipment to nuclear power plants nationwide by making the most of the heating and filtering technologies that has been cultivated over the years. We also provide maintenance checks.

Demand for film for battery electrodes is strong. One of the keys in the manufacturing and processing film is the drying process that evaporates the solvent. In response to the demand for non-organic solvents, NGK has developed a drying system that uses light to dry even water-based solvents without any problems.

"Nearline storage" is storage that is used in a different way than before. In order to increase the capacity and reliability of nearline storage HDDs, NGK's piezoelectric elements are used, which can be greatly deformed with low voltage and enable precise positioning of the magnetic head.

Beyond 5G, the next generation of 5G (fifth-generation communications system), will be high-capacity, multiple simultaneous connections, and ultra-low latency communications. Since radio waves are divided into multiple channels, the performance of the SAW filter that selects the frequency is important. The key to this is NGK's bonded wafers.

Copper alloys that exhibit excellent properties can be created by adding different metals to copper. NGK offers copper alloys such as beryllium copper and nickel-tin copper, with a variety of properties, depending on the application.

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) causes global warming. A method called CO₂-EOR traps CO₂ by using it to recover crude oil. Some of the CO₂ stays in the ground, contributing to carbon neutrality. NGK's high-performance sub-nano ceramic membrane is expected to play a role in this process.

Power electronics use semiconductor devices to improve power utilization efficiency. The sophistication of power semiconductors is strongly required as a technology that holds the key to energy conservation and carbon dioxide reduction.

The most promising application of smart logistics is the cold chain, which transports goods in a refrigerated or frozen state. The postage stamp-size storage battery, developed by NGK, boasts high output even at low temperatures and is ideal for use in small, thin tags attached to products.

Automotive emission regulations are becoming stricter. Plans are also underway to introduce on-board monitoring (OBM) to improve regulatory effectiveness. NGK's NOx sensors are used by automobile manufacturers around the world as sensors that also support OBM.

Demand for semiconductors is expanding rapidly against the backdrop of an explosive increase in distributed data. NGK manufactures “stages,” which are essential parts for semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and contribute to the efficiency of semiconductor manufacturing. The stage, created by ceramic technology, is a high-performance core component that holds the wafer and supports the processing.

Efforts are underway to eliminate mercury worldwide. One such effort is the popularization of ultraviolet LEDs to replace mercury lamps. NGK manufactures a variety of quartz glass lenses that efficiently focus ultraviolet rays of effective wavelengths.