The 2023 International Symposium on Applied Energy (CEN2023) with the theme of "Clean Energy for Carbon Neutrality" is currently being held on the campus of the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC). From the 22 to the 25 April nearly 200 experts and scholars discuss how to help local and national governments achieve their carbon neutrality goals. Leaders from relevant ministries in Ningbo, as well as many academicians, experts, and scholars from UNNC and other institutions at home and abroad, are attending the opening ceremony of the 2023 International Symposium on Applied Energy, marking the beginning of the 4-day seminar.

The conference brings together established and aspiring leaders in the field of carbon neutrality, and invited 7 outstanding experts in advanced materials and clean energy to give keynote speeches. The main themes are how to improve decarbonisation technology and energy infrastructure to transform the energy production process to zero carbon.

The symposium is organised by Applied Energy, Advances in Applied Energy and the Applied Energy Innovation Institute (AEii), and jointly hosted by UNNC, Zhejiang University and the Professional Committee of Environment and Heat Utilization, China Society for Environmental Sciences, with the support from Ningbo Association for Science and Technology.

Professor Tao Wu, UNNC Vice Provost for China Beacons Institute, Dean of Faculty of Science and Engineering, Academician Xiang Gao from the School of Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University, and Professor Jinyue Yan, Editor-in-Chief of Advances in Applied Energy, Chair Professor of Energy and Buildings, Hong Kong Polytechnic University are co-chairing the event.

This conference is taking place in the context of climate change, which a report released in 2022 by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, reaffirms is ongoing and posing enormous risks to biodiversity, food security and water systems.

Shi Ying, Vice President of the Ningbo Association for Science and Technology, opening the conference by saying “At the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 22, 2020, President Xi Jinping coordinated the overall situation at home and abroad and put forward China's strategic goals of ‘2030 carbon peak and 2060 carbon neutrality', which is not only the solemn commitment of the Chinese government to the international community, but also a major strategic deployment to comprehensively promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese-style modernisation. It is believed that the convening of this conference will provide an international vision and practical measures to promote the realisation of China's dual carbon goals.”

The symposium brings together nearly 200 experts and scholars from universities and research institutes at home and abroad, including Professor Shan-Tung Tu, Academician and Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Professor Wei Wei, Vice President of Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor Jianzhong Wu, Professor of Multi-Vector Energy Systems and Head of School of Engineering at Cardiff University, Professor Xiaolei Fan from China Beacons Institute, UNNC, Professor Zhongwei Chen, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, Professor Martin Blunt FREng from Imperial College London, and Professor Colin Snape FRSE, University of Nottingham, UK.

In the following days the meeting will discuss topics such as "carbon mitigation technologies and solutions towards carbon-neutrality", "clean energy conversion and energy storage technologies", "mitigation and integration in the petrochemical industry", sharing the latest progress in clean energy and related research.

Professor Tao Wu told us that "The main cause of climate change is the large amount of carbon emissions caused by human energy use. Therefore, it is timely and necessary to discuss all carbon reduction options 'under one roof'. We hope to seek solutions to reduce energy demand, decarbonise energy production and utilisation, and explore the contributions and innovations of transforming energy infrastructure and integrating innovative technologies through this conference.”