Professor Veronique Van Speybroeck is one of the world's leading researchers concerning sustainable technologies. For making groundbreaking contributions to the computer modelling of catalysis, she wins the prestigious Francqui Prize for Exact Sciences.
At last, a feasible solution for sustainable shipping is on its way. The very first tug running on green methanol, developed by researchers at Ghent University in collaboration with the Anglo Belgian Corporation, is ready to conquer and inspire the maritime world.
We are bombarded with news about energy measures. Even so, there is a yawning gap between the paths defined and what people actually do.
Helena Van Tichelen was in secondary school when the school strikes and marches around climate change erupted. Years later, she has not lost the commitment she picked up then. In mid-November, she put aside the lessons and courses of her third bachelor in bioengineering to travel to Egypt for the largest climate conference in the world: COP27.
Of all the plastic waste that we are currently sorting, too little is recycled properly (or even at all). As a Chemist at Ghent University, Sibel Ügdüler is developing methods for high-quality recycling, which in her opinion could resolve a serious recycling problem. The industry is watching with interest.
The design world on the eve of a revolution: all kinds of recyclable and organic materials are making an entry, in an effort to oust less sustainable materials such as plastic. For example, chairs made of cork, urns made of mycelium or light fittings made of mown grass.
What does steel production have to do with fish-food production? Everything! If you ask Myrsini Sakarika and Nele Ameloot from Ghent University. After all, they are helping to convert CO2 from the steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal Belgium into proteins, which can then be used for fish food. Pioneering research, although some finetuning is still necessary: “Fish are pretty demanding when it comes to their diet.”
Urban companies are struggling to deal with their plastic waste. The PlastiCity project, which spans four countries, is looking for practical solutions to send their recycling percentage sky high. Ghent University engineer Gianni Vyncke is involved. “The aim is to recycle plastic into sustainable products for the city.”
Ghent University uses about 260.000 m³ water annually, of which 92% is high-quality tap water. This needs to change. Ghent University is going to instigate the necessary adjustments based on a new policy on circular water management – and a break-away from traditional techniques. This is why, since 12 May 2021, there’s a wastewater treatment facility at Site Heymans in Ghent, Belgium based on water plants and bacteria: a constructed wetland.
Will eel in green sauce soon be off the menu? It could well be, as the slippery fish is threatened with extinction. Reason enough for Ghent University researcher Pieterjan Verhelst to intervene. He’s looking for ways to save the eel: “The eel is part of our Flemish culture. We must not let that be lost.”
More frequent environmental disasters due to global warming, plant and animal species that disappear, ecosystems that are disrupted. These are environmental problems, but increasingly they threaten human rights, such as the right to health or even the right to life. It raises the question: is the right to a healthy environment actually a human right?
The organization and transportation of water and food is one of the biggest obstacles to a manned trip to Mars. It is impossible to send all the necessary food and drink into space. Bio-engineer Jolien De Paepe is therefore developing a recycling system that converts astronauts’ urine into clean drinking water and valuable nutrients.
