Toward the spread of "synthetic fuel," Gen Z students, executives, and field staff consider the future of society. ② What students saw in the process of creating a marketing plan for synthetic fuel was the true face of Idemitsu Kosan.

(From left) Kitamura, Nakajima, Saito, and Kuroiwa

Before and after of industry and corporate image
—Before participating in the Decabo Challenge, how interested were you in the energy and infrastructure industries? Also, did you know about synthetic fuel?

Kuroiwa: I've always been interested in the energy field and have even participated in an internship at a related company. However, I had no knowledge of synthetic fuel, and I didn't even know that Idemitsu Kosan was working on clean energy.

Saito: I'm also studying offshore wind power generation in graduate school, but I knew nothing about synthetic fuel. To be honest, although I knew of "idemitsu," I didn't associate it with the company name "Idemitsu Kosan" in kanji.

Nakajima: I'm interested in energy policy and environmental issues, and I knew about synthetic fuel. However, I thought it was a topic at the university research lab level. This was the first time I learned that a company like Idemitsu Kosan was working to put it into provide for society.

Kitamura: When I was a freshman at university, I worked on an initiative to approach environmental issues from the perspective of "ethical consumption," and I thought I had my ears open to topics in the environmental field, but I had overlooked synthetic fuel.

The difficulty of generating ideas and how to overcome it
—Throughout the series of initiatives from the Dekabo Challenge to the Green Premium Strategy Conference, what was particularly difficult?

Kitamura-san: The question is how to overcome the price barrier of synthetic fuel. After giving this question thorough thought, we came up with our original character, Oidemitsu. We created it using generative AI.

Saito: It was quite difficult to put together a 10-minute presentation. After the Dekabo Challenge, I received feedback from Idemitsu Kosan and Earth Hacks and refined my plan, but I struggled a lot with what I should emphasize.

Kuroiwa: When we talk with this group of people, we come up with a lot of ideas for measures (laughs). We thought that the connection between measures is important to gain more empathy from consumers, so we chose what we needed and came up with today's content.

Nakajima: I think it was good that we were able to share our opinions without favoring one person.

Friendly feedback encourages improvement
-Please tell us about any memorable interactions you have had with Idemitsu Kosan employees.

Kitamura: We received a lot of feedback that made us feel that people genuinely wanted to make this project even better.

Nakajima: Through feedback from employees, we often became aware of perspectives that we hadn't considered. We asked them to evaluate areas that we hadn't given much importance to, and based on that, we tried to incorporate them into our measures.

Kuroiwa: Oidemitsu's color scheme is primarily red, but during the interim presentation, Executive Officer Tanaka said, "If we want to emphasize the eco-friendly characteristics, wouldn't green or blue be good?" This really made an impression on me. I think it's a question that wouldn't come up unless you have a realistic vision of how the character will be implemented. I thought the corporate color, red, would be good, but it was interesting and I was happy to see that our employees are also flexible in their thinking.

Saito-san: Early on, I was surprised when we received feedback that some of the themes we had set out as "challenges" had no "solutions" provided anywhere. None of us had that perspective, so it made a lot of sense to me. Every time, we received a lot of positive feedback like, "How about trying to change it like this?", which was very encouraging.

Kitamura: I was very happy when Vice President Sawa said at the Green Premium strategy meeting, "It would be interesting if we could make this a reality."

I hope to use the insights and feedback I gained from this experience to help me and society move forward.
—Please tell us what you feel you learned from this experience and what made you happy.

Kuroiwa: The biggest thing I learned from this experience was that it's difficult to motivate people just by saying it's environmentally friendly. It's important to spread the benefits and appeal of synthetic fuel, but I realized that it's important to gain empathy first. I've come to think that I would like to use this experience to contribute to society through work that promotes and publicizes systems that implement synthetic fuel toward decarbonization. As a member of Gen Z, this plan is packed with content that I would like to take part in if it were to be realized, so I would definitely like to take part if it were to be realized.

Saito: I was honestly happy that our idea as students was praised by people from the companies involved in this theme. To be honest, at first I thought about synthetic fuel, "No one would buy something so expensive, would they?" and "Cars will probably become EVs that don't require liquid fuel," but I changed my mind and realized that they will be necessary even in areas where electrification is difficult, such as aircraft and ships. It also made me realize the importance of teamwork. On the first day we met, the four of us went out to eat, which quickly brought us closer and made us really good friends. At times, we were having online meetings twice a day (laughs).

Nakajima: I felt that when people get together and communicate properly, a lot of new ideas and opinions come out. In terms of changes in myself, my interest in environmental issues has deepened even more than before. I think that synthetic fuel need to be considered not only in the "place where the fuel is used" but also in the "process of making the fuel," so I hope that one day we will be able to achieve total "carbon neutrality." In order for synthetic fuel to become more widespread, I think the price needs to be lowered, so I hope that Oidemitsu can at least raise awareness of synthetic fuel until the technology is established.

Kitamura: It was a difficult topic, but we all shared the common understanding that this was something we absolutely had to overcome in the future, so I think we were able to stay positive. I hope that in the future, we will be able to live in a society where synthetic fuel are a natural choice for everyone. As I think about my career, I feel even more strongly that I want to use what I learned this time in some way.

"Creating new value through interactions between people with different backgrounds, knowledge, and experiences, and creating a chemical reaction," and "Continually creating innovation without being bound by existing values" are two things Idemitsu Kosan always aims for and practices. Although this was our first attempt at a co-creation project with students, we were able to carry it out in our own unique style. We will utilize the great benefits we gained from this exchange in our future activities.

Click here to read the report of the "Green Premium Strategy Meeting," where students, executives, and responsible employees held discussions.
[Event Report] Tackling the difficult challenge of "promoting the use of synthetic fuel" together with Generation Z!