COP26-themed Zoomposium 1: 26 August 2021
Published: 19 August 2021
Dr Angela DAISLEY:'Making Amonia Sustainably' Dr John MacDONALD:'Atmospheric CO2 Mineralisation' Dr Ian WATSON:'Bioenergy Routes towards Mitigating Climate Chaos'
Watch COP26-themed Zoomposium 1 (Passcode: 8Z7%$cvU)
Speakers:
Dr Angela Daisley, School of Chemistry
‘Making Ammonia Sustainably’
My research involves the synthesis and characterisation of novel high activity ammonia synthesis catalysts suitable for operation on a localised scale that are able to produce ammonia in a more sustainable way. These materials include metal nitrides, such as inverse perovskite ternary nitrides and metal alloys. I would be interested in collaborating with experts in synthesising catalysts. My plan is to work with an organisation that improves the lives of people and focuses on environmental issues, which will hopefully allow me to use my knowledge and skills to solve global chemistry problems.
Dr John MacDonald, School of Geographical and Earth Sciences
‘Atmospheric CO2 Mineralisation’
I am a mineralogist and mineral chemist and my research interests are in how we can use natural and anthropogenic materials to mineralise atmospheric CO2. Removal of CO2 already in the atmosphere will make an important contribution, alongside emissions reduction, towards achieving society’s Net Zero goals. Some natural rocks, as well as by-products from industry (e.g. slag from steelmaking) naturally react with CO2, converting the CO2 gas into solid mineral form. I’m a geologist by background and focus on small-scale mineralogy and chemistry aspects of atmospheric CO2 mineralisation. However, I’m keen to collaborate with engineers, chemists and computing scientists to attract government or industrial funding to look at how we can scale up CO2 mineralisation and create pathways for organisations large and small to participate in atmospheric CO2 mineralisation and contribute to Net Zero targets.
Dr Ian Watson, James Watt School of Engineering
‘Bioenergy routes towards mitigating climate chaos’
Deploying and scaling bioenergy is a complex option towards reducing climate change but many future modelling scenarios include bioenergy as central part of the analysis to reduce carbon emissions and enable carbon negative energy production through Bioenergy Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (BECCUS). Some of the current research investigating how bioenergy can be delivered efficiently for production of high and low value products and energy will be discussed and include biomass gasification, microalgae for carbon utilisation for production of high value products and reduction of carbon of emissions from agriculture.
First published: 19 August 2021