Future opportunities for CO2: the chemistry of carbon dioxide and its role in decarbonisation

Alison Mohr is an energy social scientist in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham. Alison has 17 years’ experience working on the role of energy and environmental technologies as enablers of social and environmental change. For the past 10 years, she has specialised in energy systems governance in different socio-cultural and political-economic contexts. Her interdisciplinary outputs are distinctive for linking social science with science, engineering and energy policy communities. Alison serves on the management boards of the DfID funded UK Low Carbon Energy for Development Network, the EPSRC Doctoral Centres for ‘Resilient Decarbonised Energy Systems’ and ‘CCS and Cleaner Fossil Fuels’ and the Nottingham Energy Institute. She is the first social scientist appointed to the UKRI BBSRC Bioscience for Renewable Resources and Clean Growth Strategy Advisory Panel and has advised the Science and Technology Committees of the House of Commons and Lords, the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology and the Committee on Climate Change on bioenergy and BECCS governance.

Kevin is a founder of KEW having worked on the development of advanced gasification technology since 2012. He directed the successful 2013 engineering project funded by the Energy Technologies Institute and the subsequent £16m continuous-operation demonstration project (Sustainable Energy Centre).
KEW’s technology cost-effectively converts low-grade feedstocks (such as residual waste and biomass waste) into clean pressurised Syngas for hydrogen, chemicals, fuels and other applications. The process will be carbon-capture ready for both utilisation and/or sequestration offering integration advantage as the CO2 is pressurised as well as relatively high concentration. It will be packaged in factory-built standardised modules offering lower overall project costs, timelines and risks than site-build approaches. Kevin will be applying his background in automotive and electronics lean manufacturing to develop these products and which can be straightforwardly installed at industrial customers’ sites.

Michael North obtained his BSc from Durham University and his D.Phil from the University of Oxford. Since 2013, he has been professor of green chemistry within the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence at the University of York. Prior to this he held organic chemistry academic positions at the Universities of Newcastle, London and Wales.
Professor North’s research interests are focussed on: chemistry in green solvents, CO2 utilization, catalysis by Earth crust abundant metals, and synthesis of polymers from sustainable feedstocks. He has published over 200 papers and is a named inventor on six patents. He was awarded the 2001 Descartes Prize by the European Commission and the 2014 green chemistry award by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Peter is Chief Technology Officer and a founder of CCm Technologies. His background is in commercial process engineering development and has had a particular focus on the application of carbon dioxide within the food, agricultural and petrochemical industries. He has worked at large scale in the development food processing plants in North and South America and on specialised phytochemical plants in Europe. As a Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Sheffield and a Fellow of Chemical Engineering at the University of Birmingham, Peter has gained significant experience in the development of processes from fundamental research. His wider body of work includes patents for materials, processes and analytical techniques along with the founding of two successful businesses.