Main mission of the laboratory
To solve many of the problems of the 21st century, such as food and environmental problems, population concentration in cities, stable energy supply, change to new lifestyles and intergenerational ethics, research in agricultural systems engineering, which optimises the whole system together with individual technological developments, is essential. In Agricultural Systems Engineering, we look at agriculture as a system, with its complex and many organically linked elements, and conduct research from the perspectives of energy, resources and information.
What do we research?
What do we research in Agricultural Systems Engineering?
- Research on “Energy produced by agriculture, energy used by agriculture
- Research topics are supported from the perspective of “agricultural systems engineering x agricultural energy x agricultural ethics”.
- Energy and environmental impact assessment of biomass resources with a focus on South East Asia
- Energy and environmental impact assessment of food production systems taking into account human nutritional needs
- Development of biomass combustion carbon sequestration technology, smart biomass combustion technology
- Pesticide sensor technology, intelligent pesticide application
Developing research and education to solve “food, energy and environment” problems through engineering
- Focusing on systems engineering methods, research on “Energy used in agriculture” such as
- Energy produced by agriculture
- Energy used in agriculture
Academic questions
- What should people eat?
- What are the ethics of animals (livestock), plants (agricultural products), and living organisms (biomass and others)?
In the unique academic culture of Kyoto University, the candidate will clarify the answers to his/her own academic questions.
Background of the academic question
- The ethics of technicians in agricultural sciences is important for food, but the logic and thinking of ethics is human-centred.
- The consumption of energy resources for food, including waste management, is very large.
- Food is linked to the ethics of animals, plants and living organisms.
- The worldview and production systems of agricultural science have an academic value that distinguishes it from other disciplines.
Approaches to the questions
- What should we eat?
- Assessing the energy and environmental impacts of food production systems in the context of human nutritional needs
- How should we produce?
- Intelligent agricultural machinery and field sensing
- Use of waste in production and consumption
- Biomass resource use, intelligent combustion, carbon storage technologies
Research interests
| Agricultural systems engineering |
| Individual integration and optimisation in agriculture using engineering methods |
| Agricultural energy |
| Energy consumption and production for agriculture and food production, environmental impact assessment |
| What we want to achieve with ‘Agricultural Systems Engineering’ x ‘Agricultural Energy’ |
| To use engineering methods to search for universal truths in the field of agriculture and food production, where the science of variability and a holistic view are essential. |
| To clarify the production systems of food and nutrition essential for human survival, their relationship with the environment and living organisms, and the way in which resources and energy should be used. |
| What should be discussed in agriculture and agronomy as a discipline? |
| In food production and the use of biological resources, (norms of human behaviour) |
| Equal and adequate food for all (Code of Conduct with the Next Human Generation) |
| Leaving a beautiful global environment as an asset for future humanity (Code of Conduct extended to living organisms) |
| Care for non-human life forms. |