World Materials Conference | Scientists from the China Beacons Institute offer advice and recommendations
19 July 2024
From July 8 to 11, the highly anticipated China Materials Conference 2024 and 2nd World Materials Dual Conference event was held in Guangzhou. Experts in the field of Green Chemicals and Energy from the Nottingham Ningbo China Beacons of Excellence Research and Innovation Institute (hereinafter referred to as “the China Beacons Institute”), Dr Nicholas Musyoka and Dr Paulo Debiagi, were invited as guest speakers to participate in this conference. They offered their views for the development of sustainable new materials and the enhancement of new quality productivity in the industrial sector.
China Materials Conference 2024 and the 2nd World Materials Dual Conference is the premier academic event in China’s new materials sector, which encompasses the widest range of fields and the latest frontier developments, this grand conference attracted nearly one hundred academicians and over 25,000 materials science professionals. They gathered to discuss the latest advancements in materials research and to exchange innovative ideas and future trends.
Innovative biogas value-addition: Dr Nicholas Musyoka delves into new areas of sustainable energy materials
According to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), although fossil fuels still dominate the global energy system, the world is gradually shifting towards renewable energy and clean energy sources such as hydrogen due to the severe impact of fossil fuel consumption on greenhouse gas emissions and public health, aiming to achieve net-zero emissions across various industries.
Dr Nicholas Musyoka , who has been listed among the "World’s Top 2% Scientists", has dedicated many years to research in the field of renewable energy. At this conference, he delivered a presentation titled "Exploring the potential use of biogas as a feedstock for producing high surface area zeolite templated carbons for hydrogen storage applications," sharing the innovative outcomes of his team's work in biogas development.
Dr Nicholas Musyoka explained, "Biogas is primarily composed of methane and is produced from the decomposition of organic matter in an oxygen-deprived environment. Our team has developed specific processing techniques for utilisation of upgraded biogas ‘referred to as biomethane’ in the production of high surface area zeolite-templated carbons (ZTCs). This ZTCs material has broad application potential fields such as gas separation and in supercapacitors. This research has potential for not only opening up new directions for value-added products in the biogas industry but also has the potential to bring additional economic benefits, if the technology is commercialised.
Since storage and transportation of hydrogen has been identified as the key bottleneck for the wide-spread actualisation of the hydrogen economy, Dr Nicholas Musyoka emphasised on the need for production of sustainable sorbent materials for hydrogen storage. In this case, the production of biomethane-derived ZTCs offers an attractive option since ZTCs have been reported as promising candidate materials for lightweight hydrogen storage for Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs)” Additionally, these materials can be extended to the development of value-added products, thereby promoting commercialisation and generating economic benefits.
Breakthrough in iron-based energy: Dr Paulo Debiagi opens up a new chapter in green energy
In today's world, the use of green energy (such as wind, solar, hydro, biomass, and geothermal energy) is expanding globally. However, these energy sources often have intermittency and instability issues, as they rely heavily on natural environmental factors, making it difficult to ensure a continuous supply of power from wind energy.
In response to the intermittency of renewable electricity, Dr Paulo Debiagi pointed out in his keynote speech "Assessment of the potential use of iron as a recyclable metal fuel for energy storage, transportation and substitution of coal in power plants" that "Iron and its oxides, as efficient, economical, and easily accessible energy carriers, not only can achieve long-term storage and long-distance transportation of electricity, but also have the potential to become green alternatives to traditional fuels such as coal.“
Dr Paulo Debiagi elaborated on the technical feasibility of iron-based fuels, delved into their economic costs and environmental impacts, and demonstrated the enormous potential and broad prospects of this innovation in energy transition.
As an expert focused on renewable energy and energy storage for many years, Dr Paulo Debiagi said that the development of green energy also faces other challenges, "such as the current power storage technology is not fully mature and popularised, making it difficult to effectively store large-scale renewable energy electricity. Secondly, large-scale energy facilities require land and resources, such as wind farms and solar power plants that require a large amount of land and may have an impact on the local ecological environment and community. Moreover, there is the investment costs. Although renewable energy has low long-term operating costs, the initial construction and installation costs are high, requiring huge capital investment.
Challenges also contain opportunities. As with every discussion and exchange at this conference, new sparks of ideas are ignited, new problems are raised, and new solutions are explored. These valuable knowledge and experience will continue to inspire every researcher and drive the development of materials science towards deeper and broader fields.
The China Beacons Institute will not forget its original aspiration and continue to challenge and overcome difficulties in Intelligent Manufacturing, Green chemicals and Energy, and Life Science and Healthcare, empowering industrial upgrading. Joining hands with global research academics, guided by technological innovation and industrial development, we continuously promote progress in science and contribute more wisdom and strength to the development of human society.
(All pictures are from Chinese Materials Conference 2024 and 2nd World Materials Dual Conference.)