Recently, the rapid expansion of worldwide energy demand has caused increased concern about the supply of crude oil. On the other hand, there is an urgent need to reduce greenhouse gases such as CO2 in order to combat global warming. In addition, it is essential to decrease vehicular exhaust gas pollutants as much as possible in order to preserve the atmospheric environment.
　Under these circumstances, the Research Center for New Fuels and Vehicle Technology (NFV) is developing innovative automobile and fuel technologies by integrating pioneering and stand-alone technologies in cooperation with industry, aiming at the proliferation of new fuels (biomass-based fuels and fossil-sourced clean fuels), energy conservation, and super clean exhaust gas. Another important task is the standardization of new fuels and of technologies for measurement and evaluation of fuels and exhaust gases, which are crucial for expanding the use of new fuels. NFV is also working to establish an international talent promotion network by accepting researchers and doing collaborative research in this field, thus carrying out an “Innovation Hub” function (Fig. 1) towards the expansion of new fuel vehicles and related technologies.