The UN climate change conference in Dubai featured young firms offering innovative environmental solutions.

10 of the start-ups were from Japan, the most of any country.

This company pitched technology that enables ammonia production to be more efficient and eco-friendly.

The chemical compound is commonly used to make fertilizer,

but it has been getting another look as a possible next-generation power source.

It emits no carbon dioxide when burned.

But, its production process is energy-intensive,

requiring a large plant to create the necessary high-temperature, high-pressure environment.

The Japanese start-up believes it can make production simpler.

It has developed a new catalyst that it says allows ammonia to be produced at temperatures 100 degrees Celsius cooler,

and at pressure levels 75 percent lower.

This means smaller scale equipment, allowing ammonia to be made more cheaply and safely.

"Our innovative technology enables ammonia to be produced almost anywhere."

"We think it could contribute to the livelihoods of local communities in countries around the world."

One nation eyeing the technology is the UAE.

The country wants to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and invest in clean energy production.

Its flagship renewable energy firm is joining hands with the Japanese company to explore making production cleaner.

The startup hopes its presence in the Middle East will be a step toward expanding around the world.

"Here at COP28, we've met people from all over the globe."

"It's a great opportunity to introduce our technology."

Another Japanese start-up showcased its cutting-edge recycling technology for plastic bottles.

"These are plastic bottles that have been broken down into flakes...

as you can see, there are many remaining impurities."

Removing all of the impurities is difficult,

meaning bottles cannot be repeatedly recycled into new ones.

So the firm has developed a way to break them down to the molecular level.

They are turned into raw materials that can be reused over and over again.

It says this can reduce CO2 emissions by half compared to making completely new plastic bottles.

The firm is teaming up with a company in the UAE to establish a large-scale recycling plant in the country.

Decarbonization should be a global effort, everyone should be working towards it.

Nations at the climate conference made key pledges about moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

But any commitments won't be possible without the right technology in place,

and that's where Japanese startups are making a difference.

Ambulances at a hospital in Bangkok are equipped with high speed communications technology

to give patients an edge when every second counts.

A camera is installed on the ceiling of an ambulance.

Video and data including a person's vital signs and medical records are relayed to hospitals in real time using 5G.

Doctors remotely use the information to advise staff in the ambulance.

It also helps paramedics at a hospital prepare to receive the patient.

- Please take this patient to Siriraj-Hospital.
- Got it, we'll head there right away.

The ambulances are seen as a key way to improve patient outcomes when traffic jams are a problem in the city.

"If we expand this network and smart ambulances can cover the entire area,

I'm sure that we will be able to save many more lives."

Advances in remote health care are also making their way to rural areas

where access to medical services can be limited.

This clinic in a mountainous area has only two nurses, and no doctors.

Rural parts of Thailand have fewer doctors in general,

making it harder for pregnant women to get adequate medical checkups.

This year, the facility introduced these small ultrasound devices from Japan

to help make up for the lack of medical staff.

The nurses use them to measure detailed data about pregnant women

such as fetal heart rate and other measurements.

The information is transmitted to a hospital about 40 kilometers away.

Doctors at the hospital use the data to advise the nurses on the results of medical exams.

Regular checkups are key to reducing pregnancy risks such as premature births.

I was worried because facilities offering specialized medical treatment for pregnant women are too far and costly.

It's great to know that my baby is doing well.

Workshops are now being held to teach other facilities how to use the devices.

"Now that we have these machines,

I hope that more pregnant women will come to these clinics to hear the heartbeat of their babies,

leading to better prenatal care."

As technology continues to advance,

this could be just the start of a trend to make medical treatment more effective and accessible for all.

Vegetable scraps are being turned into useful food products.

And shredded paper is now being used to feed fungus that serves as a key ingredient in a bio soil product.

Today's On-Site report shows how everyday waste products are being upcycled in unexpected ways!

One of Japan's most popular fast foods is called "gyudon."

In addition to beef, sliced onions are considered a key topping.

This major gyudon chain's restaurants go through more than 25 tons of onions every day.

With strict size and shape standards for its onion slices,

in total, its restaurants produce about 1250kg of onion scraps per day.

Since onions have antibacterial properities,

they're not ideal for composting and they can be toxic to many animals,

so they're not considered safe for use in feed.

Just disposing of onion scraps was costing us about $40,000 per year.

So we've been looking for ways to actually make use of the onion scraps we produce,

at least the portions that are edible!

Wanting to reduce large amounts of food loss and food waste,

Kano Chihiro started her own company, Astra Food Plan, in 2020.

Turning food scraps into something usable has always proven difficult

because the labor costs or because it would most often require developing new equipment.

Thinking of an easy way to make use of different vegetable scraps,

Kano came up with the idea of turning them into powder form.

She designed and built a drying machine based off of research

her father had done on using superheated steam for food drying.

First, the vegetables in this case onions are cut into tiny pieces

and are then poured into the industrial drying machine.

By heating water vapor to over 300°C,

it becomes a dry gas that is able to quickly dry the onions.

The result - in just 5-10 seconds, you have thousands upon thousands of perfectly dried onion flakes.

In addition to onions, this machine can be used to dry over 100 different kinds of fruits, vegetables and other types of food.

Bacteria can easily begin to grow on vegetable scraps,

but since the machine dries them at such high temperatures, they are instantly sterilized.

Once the drying process is complete,

the vegetable flakes and powders can be stored at room temperature for one year without adding any preservatives.

Kano's company is currently selling onion flakes made from scraps to a major bakery chain.

The flakes are currently being used as an ingredient in four of their bread products

like these onion rolls featuring cheese and bacon -

which have proven to be popular with customers.

They come out with a moist and chewy texture bursting with onion flavor.

We're now thinking about coming up with new menu items

that we can make using other types of vegetable powder.

Looking ahead, I think we can use this process for applications that go beyond the food industry.

For example, I think some dried products could be used as a fuel source, as ingredients for natural deodorants,

and certain plant-based fibers could even be used to make clothing.

Like much of the world, paper shredders can be found in offices across Japan.

Unfortunately, instead of being recycled, about 40% of the paper they shred ends up being incinerated.

Kyushu University Professor, Matsumoto Masaru, who specializes in tropical environmental microbiology,

has come up with an environmentally friendly way to upcycle shredded waste paper.

We all know that when left in soil, paper will slowly be decomposed by microorganisms.

But we decided to focus our research on finding out exactly

what microorganisms are responsible for breaking down paper products.

As a result of his team's extensive research, they discovered that a particular species of Trichoderma fungus,

which is commonly found in soil, reproduce while decomposing paper.

They then isolated a strain that was particularly efficient at breaking down paper and called it "Trichoderma virens 911."

Trichoderma are also known for reducing the growth of pathogens in the soil,

producing substances that can promote plant growth, and even improving the solubility of nutrients in the soil.

Considering these beneficial properties,

Professor Matsumoto set out to create a culture soil containing this particular strain of fungus.

While it's adept at breaking down paper, it prefers other food sources,

so his team feeds it nothing but shredded paper for a minimum of one week.

The fungus will quickly abandon paper for other more "attractive" food options.

So, we had to create artificial conditions in order to force it to adapt -

and basically say to it, "you've got no choice, all you're going to get for dinner is paper!"

If green or white cotton-like spores begin to appear,

it's is a sign that the fungus is decomposing the paper and are reproducing.

Once "trained," the paper-eating fungus is then used to upcycle shredded paper waste.

For the next step of the process, they partnered with a local compost producer.

The company's facilities are used to grow a much larger amount of paper-eating fungus.

First, shredded paper waste and sand are mixed together -

the paper serves as food and the sand provides a habitat for the fungus to live and reproduce in.

A solution containing harvested fungus is then added to the mixture.

About three weeks later, the fungus have multiplied significantly and devoured all of the paper.

What remains is a fungus-rich "soil supplement."

When a small amount is added to the company's standard organic compost,

the fungus quickly begin feeding on the organic materials it contains and multiply even further -

resulting in a new type of "bio soil."

At a cultivation testing facility, they grew several Japanese green pepper plants with the new bio soil.

The plants grown with it provided a 40% larger pepper yield than plants grown with standard compost.

I've seen other soil conditioners that contain Trichoderma fungus, but they were quite expensive.

As far as I know, there aren't any affordable supplements that can be mixed in with other products like this one.

The new bio soil is now available at home improvement stores across Japan.

Over the last year, the company has sold nearly 7000 bags of the product.

If possible, we want to create an environment where instead of just one type of fungus,

different types of microorganisms can be combined to break down paper waste more efficiently.

This would allow for even faster decomposition

and let us make use of even more paper waste products!