• Question: does your work affect climate change?

    Asked by anon-196026 to Sebastian, Paddy, Lee, Jennifer, Fiona, Eleanor on 7 Mar 2019.
    • Photo: Sebastian Cosgrove

      Sebastian Cosgrove answered on 7 Mar 2019:

      One of the main aims of my work is to hopefully increase the efficiency with which we do chemical reactions. Lots of current industrial processes use lots of heat and high pressures, so emit a lot of greenhouse gases. If we improve the efficiency of the way we do chemistry, this can have a really positive impact on climate change. I use enzymes to do chemistry instead of man-made chemicals. When we use enzymes in chemistry we use room temperature and pressures, so they are a lot energy intensive, meaning the processes that we use are a lot more environmentally friendly. By doing research into more enzyme reactions my work is helping to switch to a lower carbon chemical industry.

    • Photo: Fiona Scott

      Fiona Scott answered on 7 Mar 2019:

      My work isn’t on climate change per say but I am aware of the waste I create in a lab. Most of our chemical waste is incinerated in a furnace which isn’t ideal but it would be worse if it made its way into our rivers and oceans. I do what I can to reduce my plastic use in the lab. Luckily a lot of chemistry is carried out using glass.

      There is a lot of really interesting research about how we can use chemistry to combat climate change and make new materials from recycled products, avoiding those very scarce fossil fuels!

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