Since 2008, the Global Center of Excellence (COE) at Kyoto University, Japan, has been engaged in a program called “Energy Science in the Age of Global Warming?Toward a CO2 Zero-Emission Energy System.” Its aim is to establish an international education and research platform to foster educators, researchers, and policy makers who can develop technologies and propose policies for establishing a CO2 zero-emission society no longer dependent on fossil fuels. It is well known that the energy problem cannot simply be labeled a technological one, as it is also deeply involved with social and economic issues. The establishment of a “low-carbon energy science” as an interdisciplinary field integrating social sciences with natural sciences is necessary. The Global COE is setting out a zero-emission technology roadmap and is promoting socioeconomic studies of energy, studies of new technologies for renewable energies, and research for advanced nuclear energy. It has also established the Global COE Unit for Energy Science Education to support young researchers as they apply their skills and knowledge and a broad international perspective to respond to issues of energy and the environment in our societies. Comprising the proceedings of the Third International Symposium of the Global COE Program, this book follows on the earlier volumes Zero-Carbon Energy Kyoto 2009 and 2010, published in March 2010 and February 2011, respectively.

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The nuclear plant accident at Fukushima in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami has had a major impact on the energy strategy of Japan and the world. From a global perspective, approach to energy is of greater and greater consequence. The Global Center of Excellence (COE) Program of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, with the support of university faculty members, has established an international education and research platform to foster educators, researchers, and policy makers who can develop technologies and propose policies for establishing a CO₂ zero-emission society no longer dependent on fossil fuels by the year 2100. Since 2008, a program called “Energy Science in the Age of Global Warming?Toward a CO₂ Zero-Emission Energy System” has been in progress at Kyoto University. A third international symposium, titled “Zero-Carbon Energy, Kyoto 2011,” was held jointly with Ajou University, Korea, in August 2011, and this book is a compilation of the lectures and presentations from the symposium. As is evident in this collection, the Global COE is promoting the establishment of “Low-carbon Energy science” as an interdisciplinary field integrating social science and human science with the natural sciences to confront the vital issues of energy and environment.

Part I. Scenario Planning and Socio-economic Energy Research (i) Contributed Papers Potential of Drastic Improvement of Energy Efficiency in Japan Feasibility of Natural Gas Supply from Russia to Korea Scenario Analysis of Low-Carbon Smart Electricity Systems in Japan in 2030 (ii) Session Papers Modeling Sectoral Power Demand Using Panel Model Understanding Socio-Economic Driving Factors of Indonesian Households Electricity Consumption in Two Urban Areas Economic Measures for Evaluating CO2 Emission Reduction in Japan by Using the Integrated Model of Multi-sectoral Macroeconomy and Energy Application of Online Community for Promotion of Pro-environmental Behavior Analysis of Short Time Pauses in Office Work Measures for Nuclear Power Substitution in the Electricity Supply to Kyoto City Part II. Renewable Energy Research and CO2 Reduction Research (i) Invited Paper Electrospun Metal Oxides for Energy Applications (ii) Contributed Papers Microwave Material Processing for Distributed Energy System (iii) Session Papers On-Site Sugar Analysis and Pre-treatment of Nipa Saps Conversion of Glycerol as By-Product from Biodiesel Production to Value-Added Glycerol Carbonate Holocellulose Determination in Biomass Hydrolysis Behavior of Various Crystalline Celluloses from Cotton Linter as Treated by One-Step Semi-flow Hot-Compressed Water Factors Affecting Biodiesel Yield in Interesterification of Rapeseed Oil by Supercritical Methyl Acetate Effects of Various Solvent on Precipitation of Phenolated Products from Japanese Beech as Treated by Subcritical Phenol Crystal Structure Analysis of [gamma]-Fe2O3 in the Process of Chemical Li Insertion Relaxation Phase Analysis of LiMn2O4 Cathode for Secondary Li Ion Battery Synthesis of Sodium Cerium Sulfate (NaCe(SO4)2·H2O) from Cerium Oxide in Sulfuric Acid Solutions Study on Hydrogen-Jet Development in the Argon Atmosphere Theoretical Study of Particle Motion Under High Intensity Laser-Plasma Interaction Aiming for High Energy Density Science Simulation of Electron Trajectory in Bulk HTSC Staggered Array Undulator Part III. Advanced Nuclear Energy Research (i) Invited Paper Current Status of Fukushima Dai'ichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident The New Era of Geothermal Energy Utilization with Aid of Nuclear Reactor Technology Direct Numerical Simulation of Stably-Stratified Turbulent Channel Flow with CO2 Supercritical Pressure ADS Experiments for the Effectiveness of External Source (iii) Session Papers Opportunities and Challenges of Nuclear Power Development in China Measurement of Spatial Distributions of Fusion Reactions in an Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion Device Driven by a Ring-Shaped Magnetron Ion Source Nonlinear Collision Effect on [alpha] Particle Confinement in Toroidal Plasmas High-Temperature Ultrasonic Doppler Velocimetry for Lead-Lithium Flows Numerical Investigation of Subcooled Pool Boiling Bubble Behavior Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Turbulent Flow in Square Duct Development of Microbubble Generation Method Gyro-Kinetic Simulation of Ion Temperature Gradient Driven Drift Wave Instability in the Presence of a Magnetic Island Thermodynamic Stability of Nd(III) Complex in Ternary Mixtures of Molten Alkali Chlorides Modeling of Two-Dimensional Transport in Tokamak Plasmas Current Status of the Non-destructive Assay for 235U and 239Pu Toward More Secure Nuclear Power The Strain Rate Effect on High-Temperature Tensile Properties of High-Cr Oxide Dispersion Strengthened Steels Development of Composite Material with Directional Property for High Thermal Conductivity for Divertor. Author Index Keyword Index