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Renewable fuel sources, reducing carbon emissions and protecting environments are common goals to protect our natural environment … But are current levels of innovation and technological development ready to ensure a smooth transition to green living? This event will provide you with hot takes, interesting perspectives and new ideas towards making a sustainable future a reality.
Electronic Waste – The New Gold
Marin Rivera Rodolfo
(University of Leicester)
We want hybrid cars, wind turbines, solar cells and, overall, more energy efficient appliances. However, the shift toward a sustainable future rely on the availability of valuable metals that, until now, have been ‘hidden’ in our electronic waste.
Fuels, Plastics and Vodka Martinis: How Chemists Seek To Turn Captured Carbon Into Useful Products
Dr Sandy Kilpatrick
(Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry)
The excessive burning of fossil fuels has led to a rapid rise of atmospheric CO2 levels since the industrial revolution, triggering catastrophic environmental issues and the global energy crisis.
The capture and conversion of CO2 into valuable products is an increasingly urgent field of scientific interest, and is also gaining attention from the chemical industry.
This talk highlights the discovery of catalysts designed to utilise CO2 as a cheap and renewable source of carbon, to produce everyday products more sustainably... products like jet fuel, polymers, and even alcoholic drinks.
The capture and conversion of CO2 into valuable products is an increasingly urgent field of scientific interest, and is also gaining attention from the chemical industry.
This talk highlights the discovery of catalysts designed to utilise CO2 as a cheap and renewable source of carbon, to produce everyday products more sustainably... products like jet fuel, polymers, and even alcoholic drinks.
Design for Recycle: How Battery Design Can Revolutionise Recycling
Sean Scott
(Postgraduate Researcher)
Electric vehicles are becoming more common across the globe and are expected to be the primary means of personal transportation as we tackle climate change. These vehicles are powered by lithium-ion batteries which require a lot of critical materials like cobalt and nickel, which makes their recovery and reuse at the end of life important. Current recycling processes are inefficient but changing how batteries are designed could revolutionise battery recycling. This talk looks at the scale of the problem and novel techniques and binder materials which could simplify recycling in the future.
Is it me? Am I the drama?”
Denis Mc Call Jr
(Postgraduate Researcher)
Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Moreover, they have been continuously marketed as dream tourist destinations despite rising sea levels and powerful hurricanes. Undoubtedly, aviation is the most common mode of transport in relation to the tourism industry in SIDS and as such, the need to reconcile aviation with sustainable development and environmental protection is thus becoming increasingly acute. The research will examine the perception of aviation in Barbados and propose recommendations for sustainable aviation development.
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