PURPOSE: To obtain active carbon porous material useful for polarizable electrode of electric double layer capacitor by blending a water-soluble polymer consisting essentially of a resol type phenolic resin with a component comprising a lipophilic compound, etc., curing and carbonizing.

CONSTITUTION: 100 pts.wt. resol type phenolic resin is sufficiently blended with 1-10 pts.wt. surfactant, 1-100 pts.wt. compound selected from an oxyalkylene compound shown by the formula (n is 2 or W 3; 2≤x≤100) and glycerol and 1-100 pts.wt. high-boiling lipophilic compound liquid at normal temperature while stirring and cured to give a material composition, which is molded, carbonized at ≥500°C and activated to give active carbon porous material having 0.1-0.8g/cm3 bulk density and ≥500m2/g specific surface area. Further a pair of polarizable electrodes 2 and 3 comprising a separator 1 and the active carbon porous material and a pair of collector 4 and 5 are immersed in an electrolyte 6 to give an electric double layer capacitor.