RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT: Energy IRC: Energy Transformations: Cambridge Zero Climate Change Festival 2021

Cambridge Zero Climate Change Festival 2021 brought together people from all backgrounds to share solutions, explore new research and learning, and inspire global action. This year focussed on the important work the University’s communities are doing, especially in the run-up to COP26, the United Nations international climate change conference which took place in Glasgow.

The Energy IRC showcased the latest cross-University research on net-zero and zero-carbon technologies and policy from academics and early career researchers. The series of 10 minutes talks were aimed at a general scientific audience covering aspects of how their research contributes to getting to a resilient future, where we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and have a sustainable energy transition away from fossil fuels. Each session was followed by Q&A sessions.

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Chair: Dr Shafiq Ahmed, Coordinator, Energy IRC

00:00 Keynote: 'The Bumpy Road to a Low-Carbon Economy'
Dr David Reiner, Senior Lecturer, Judge Business School

19:58 “Future is electric: Future is GaN”
Dr Saptarsi Ghosh, Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy

36:51 “How perovskite solar cells could transform electricity generation in the least developed countries“
Dr Bart Roose, Newton International Research Fellow, Department of Physics

52:15 “How to decarbonise road freight in an absolute zero UK”
Dr Daniel Ainalis, Senior Research Associate, Department of Engineering

1:04:14 “Metal plating in batteries: past, present, and future”
Dr Svetlana Menkin Bachbut, Postdoctoral Researcher, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry

1:27:58 Keynote: New Chemistry for Carbon Dioxide Capture
Dr Alex Forse, Lecturer, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry

1:48:19 “Green Ammonia for Long Term Energy Storage”
Joseph El-Kadi, PhD Student, Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology
Collin Smith, PhD Student, Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology

2:04:36 “Development of high temperature superconducting coated conductors for commercial high field fusion magnets”
Tom Bedford, PhD Student, Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy

2:16:50 “The way to Net-Zero and Beyond: Informing European Climate Policy through NEGEM”
Dr Lucrezia Nava, Research Associate, Judge Business School

2:30:10 “Modelling the hurdles to our GaN energy revolution”
Ahmed Ashour, Undergraduate Summer Research Student, Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy

2:45:27 “Temperature sensing in single-cell organisms”
Louise Shanahan, PhD Student, Department of Physics

2:56:33 “Energy-Efficient Computer Memory – Moving Atoms to Save the Climate”
Markus Hellenbrand, Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy