So if existing materials like haematite aren’t good enough to be used to generate solar fuels, how do researchers go about identifying novel materials to convert sunlight into fuel? We’ll see how computers can help identify ideal materials for the production of solar fuels. What are the key steps to do in research lab to build a tangible device that can be used to produce a solar fuel?
Solar energy can be used to convert CO2 and methane, potent greenhouse gases, into high-value products for the production of fertilizers, plastics or even pharmaceuticals. In this post we find out about the materials needed catalyse this conversion.
Turning sunlight into a liquid fuel might sound like the fantasy machinations of a sci-fi novel. A fuel that is abundant, sustainable, storable, and a portable source of energy? The reality is possibly even more exciting. Solar fuels could use energy in sunlight to convert CO2 and methane, potent greenhouse gases, into high-value products, such as fertilizers, plastics or pharmaceuticals.
Electrocatalysts could be an energy game-changer. They could allow us to generate electricity, and produce fuels like petrol and diesel, using naturally abundant substances. Predicting a specific catalyst for any reaction will soon be within reach. It looks like the best days of the alchemist might still be ahead.
Catalysts have been instrumental in human development, especially in producing energy. For over 100 years catalysts have transformed how we get from A to B, and will continue to do so by giving us cleaner greener alternative fuels. So how have energy catalysts developed over time?
Catalysis is critical to many chemical processes, from digesting your food to plastic production and making beer! Catalysts could drive the clean energy revolution and much more. In the first post of a three-part series, we explore what catalysts are and how they have been instrumental in human development, from world wars to pushing the frontiers of medicine.
How much are we, the consumer, willing to change our own lifestyle to help reduce the environmental impact of the fast fashion industry? What makes an ethical fashion consumer?
We delve into current fashion brand sustainability initiatives. How are they changing their way of doing business?
So if we don’t want to continue with the ‘take-make-waste’ model of fashion, what’s the alternative? We find out about circular fashion, and why it means a fundamental rethink of the whole fashion production chain.
We look at the modern phenomenon that is the fast fashion industry and its impact on the environment. What is ‘fast fashion’? How has it changed our behaviour and what impact does that have?