Distinguished Fellows
Dr Makoto Akai
Dr. Makoto Akai is an Emeritus Researcher at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and a Visiting Professor at the International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (I2CNER), Kyushu University, Japan.
He currently serves as the project leader for the Japanese Ministry of the Environment's CCS demonstration project.
Dr Akai has brought a great deal of technical and non-technical knowledge and expertise associated with the energy sector and specifically CCS to many key roles in his international and domestic professional career. He was a Coordinating Lead Author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage and a Lead Author of both the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, and the IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources.
Dr Akai has made significant contributions to the development of Japanese energy strategy under the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry (METI). He has chaired advisory committees and led R&D project formation and promotion activities for METI, while for the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) he has chaired or led relevant committees and teams on technology developments, including CCS R&D projects.
Dr. Akai’s fields of research interest have been Energy Technologies including modeling of turbulent two phase flow, development of ultra high speed X-ray tomography for two phase flow measurement, component development such as high temperature heat exchanger or coal combustor, and CCS as well as Technology Assessments including life-cycle assessment, energy system analysis/energy modeling, and the socio-economic aspects of energy and environmental technologies.
Dr Akai was one of the founding Directors of the Global CCS Institute. He joined the Board in 2009 and served the maximum 3 consecutive terms before retiring from the Board in 2018.
Dr. Akai received his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1980.
