Japan’s NYK to use canola field to produce biodiesel in an area devastated by 2011 quake

In Japan, NYK has concluded a contract with United Green for partial ownership of a canola flower field along the Sanriku shoreline, an area that suffered extensive damage from the tsunami that accompanied the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. United Green is a general incorporated association that has implemented a recovery project involving canola flower fields in Kamaishi city in Iwate prefecture. To improve the landscape and help develop a sustainable regional industry, canola flowers have been planted in farmlands that had been damaged by salt or simply abandoned. The oil produced from the canola flowers will be marketed under the brand name “Yuicco.”