Catalysis as a cornerstone of a sustainable society

Matching the production of today’s fuels and products to the social and environmental needs of the future.

Most of the fuels and products we produce today come from fossil sources, mostly petroleum. Finding renewable sources and more sustainable processes is vital if we are to maintain the supply of products in the future, and especially if we are to make that future greener. But what alternatives do we have? Is the technology sufficiently developed to make such a change?

As in many other fields, it has been science that has answered such questions. We can divide renewable sources into two parts: those that will be used for fuel/energy supply and those that will be used for the production of material products. Firstly, the main sources of renewable energy are found in natural resources (sun, wind, water) - did you know that the solar energy received by the Earth in a single day is consumed by the world’s population for a whole year? And secondly, over the years, nature itself has given us solutions to create new biomass, in this case the possibility for plants and trees to grow constantly through photosynthesis. This would be the source of the new material that we will have to use in the future. If we know where and how the sustainable path of the future is going, let’s make the most of it!

The aim of this conference is to give a brief explanation of the alternative fuels and sustainable materials that we will have in the future, with particular emphasis on the importance of catalysis. We will look at the contribution that science can make, both in developing real solutions and in proposing new ideas. If you want sustainable solutions, let’s go hand in hand with catalysis!