The Japanese government must promote a comprehensive research program to replace carbon in polymers with silicon. The new materials will be as versatile as the current petrochemical materials, while harder and more stable. In addition, they will have useful optical and electrical characteristics.
As Japan's Minister of International Trade, he wants to invest 140 million in this line of research over the next 10 years.
The main objective of the project is to develop new methods of synthesis of silicon polymers from monomers. So far the results obtained in this field have not been very satisfactory. However, silicon polymers are expected to be abundant by the next century.