The “Cool Earth-Innovative Energy Technology Program,” launched by the Japanese government in March 2008, aims to significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Among the 21 selected technologies is the Advanced Ultra Super Critical (A-USC) pressure power generation, which targets the commercialization of a 700°C class pulverized coal power system with a power generation efficiency of 46% by around 2015. As of 2004, Japan's pulverized coal power plant capacity reached 35 GW, with the latest plants achieving a steam temperature of 600°C and a net thermal efficiency of approximately 42% (HHV). Older plants from the 1970s and early 1980s, with steam temperatures of 538°C or 566°C, are nearing the need for refurbishment or rebuilding. A case study on retrofitting these older plants with A-USC technology, which uses a 700°C class steam temperature, demonstrated that this technology is suitable for such upgrades and can reduce CO 2 emissions by about 15%. Following this study, a large-scale development of A-USC technology began in August 2008, focusing on developing 700°C class boiler, turbine, and valve technologies, including high-temperature material technology. Candidate materials for boilers and turbine rotor and casing materials are being developed and tested. Two years into the project, useful test results regarding these candidate materials have been obtained, contributing to the advancement of A-USC technology.

We have developed a sensitive method for detecting hot spots in LSIs, which is called Dye Thermochromism Imaging (DTI). A key is a thermochromic dye film based on a leuco-dye/acid/modulator/polymer system. The blue color of this film reversibly fades at temperatures near room temperature: its transmittance at 610 nm changes at a logarithmic slope of 0.35/°C. A differential local brightness increase in the image indicates a hot spot when an LSI is biased with a supply voltage. We observed a hot spot in a low power SRAM at supply voltages between 0.9 and 2 V and power dissipations between 0.072 and 1 mW using a 10-bit/12-bit dual mode CCD. Comparing DTI with fluorescent microthermal imaging (FMI), we found that DTI has several advantages with regard to temperature sensitivity, reproducibility in repeated measurements, instrumental setup, and speed of measuring.