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You could call it a colorful journey – the past few years PhD candidate Catarina Simões has spent mastering harvesting energy from waters. Not only for her discoveries that made blue energy even greener but also for her experiences outside the research. Joining the personnel committee and magazine while getting her hands dirty in the lab. “I never planned to do a PhD, but the ambiance at Wetsus was the reason for me to do a PhD here.”
The person behind the science, and the science behind the person.
“I think my grandmother really awakened my curiosity about the sciences. Being a biology teacher, she would love to tell and teach me about the world. And one of these moments stuck with me was when she once showed me the working of the rabbit’s lungs. Picking up a straw and blowing air into the little lungs fascinated me,” Catarina says. And with good grades in school for the natural sciences, ending up in chemical and biochemical engineering was a logical career path.
Final destination: finishing her master’s degree in that same field with a thesis on a water-based battery. But it didn’t quite stop there. “I never planned to do a PhD, but my master thesis at Wetsus was really the reason for me to continue my studies.” And with a PhD position opening in the blue energy theme, Catarina quickly found a new challenge to work on: electrochemistry.
“After working with the water-based battery, I wanted to learn more. Understanding other electrochemical processes was the way.” So Blue energy – mixing fresh and saltwater to generate electricity – was a great fit. But a challenging one. Blue energy is one of the furthest developed techniques in Wetsus.
Catarina’s studies aimed to find the trade-off between power density and energy efficiency and enhance process sustainability. “Trying to become an expert on a topic with all other experts on the general topic around – it’s an odd start. But my mindset is to get things done today, not wait until someone else does it tomorrow.”
So that is where she started – reading up, exploring what was known, and just go for it. “But of course, you soon discover that theory and practice are not always alike.” Thus, to explore the actual value of her research, the scientist had to travel to the Afsluitdijk.
You could call it ambitious. But Catarina humbly refers to her work as ambitious but with limits. “One of the things I learned in my PhD that I’m most proud of is to keep a balance. Wetsus works nicely for that. I just couldn’t spend all evening in the lab. The technical team would only be around again at eight in the morning, so you quickly learn your effective working hours. It makes your PhD your job, not your life. And to add to that, I think the most important thing in a PhD might just be a good night’s sleep.”
Especially during COVID, as it made the research a bit more challenging. “In the end, I did get the chance to do all my experiments and take samples at the blue energy plant at the Afsluitdijk. I had a nice summer, and I could witness the real process. The more complex, differently charged salt particles, microorganisms, everything is in there. There we could figure out how swapping the fresh and saltwater streams could benefit energy generation and how we can sustainably use the expensive membranes that allow a flow of current.”
But that’s not all. Sustainability in blue energy can be improved even still. “To get electrons flowing, on a lab scale, you would use iron hexacyanide. Not the safest and most ideal compound. So, I investigated using different types of carbon to do the same job. Making black slurries that caused a mess everywhere, you’d go with them. But given the right combination, it seems a viable alternative.”
With these findings, blue energy can grow to be even greener, an even better supplement to wind and solar power. And Catarina herself? “Well, I’ve developed a bit of a love-hate relationship with electrochemistry by now. One thing is for sure, I want to make the world a cleaner place. I want to keep contributing for sustainable innovations in water, chemical and energy technologies. So water technology or sustainable technology at least seems like a place to look for.”
Abstract
The realisation of a circular economy has thus far unfolded under the assumption that it would fit within existing economic arrangements. In practice, we witness many circular initiatives struggling to give shape to their ambitions, let alone develop to maturity. These past months, various material recycling organisations terminated their activities, seeing virgin alternatives from other parts of the world flooding the market at prices against they cannot compete. If the transition towards a circular economy (i.e. an economy of value preservation) is to be taken seriously, a new perspective on value in our economic system seems unavoidable, as the rewriting of the rules of the economic game. At this moment, current perceptions of value stand in the way of this transition both at micro as well as macro levels. Several contours for a collective exploration of new directions of value and economic configuration that foster circular transition will be addressed.
Abstract
In his key note he will conclude after a life of innovations that it is impossible that humanity will stay within the save planetary boundaries with innovation only. We should be more critical about the behaviour of the rich population in the world and more critical about new innovations that prove to be dangerous, like the PFAS crisis shows at this moment. In his keynote he will investigate how to look at the world that can stay within the save planetary boundaries, how should we change ourselves? It is clear if we only talk about the words of science and systems we miss the essential words of how we should cooperate and change ourselves. And his search for coherent save innovations. Which innovations will be save and will lead to a fair and sustainable world? And will lead to a world we want to live in.
Abstract
There is a growing number of new sustainable, inclusive, cohesive, participatory, just and humane economic models. A possible next step in the discourse about them is the comparative analysis in order to find out key commonalities, potential synergies, and “requirements” for a future-fit economic model. The author and initiator of the Economy for the Common Good provides an overview of these „new sustainable economic models“ and compares them according to underlying values, principles, and practical ways of implementation. The keynote addresses the cooperative spirit of the conference and prepares the ground for its public highlight on the eve of June 3rd, the round table with representatives of diverse future-fit economic models.
Abstract
The scientific debate on whether economies should always continue to grow increasingly becomes a political and societal debate. On the one hand further growth for the most affluent countries seems neither possible nor valuable, but on the other hand there is still lack of understanding and knowledge what a non-growing economy should look like and could best be governed. In this lecture we discuss various policy measures that can be realistically implemented, take into account government finances and aim at a higher quality of life despite a non-growing economy.
Abstract
Democracy is under pressure, and less and less able to stir the economy into a sustainable direction. Therefore, to stabilize democracy and to make possible the socio-ecological transformation of the economy, democratic principles need to be implemented directly in the economy. This is not only a matter of morality, but also has practical advantages. Democratizing the economy can increase legitimacy and take advantage of the “knowledge of the many” to accelerate the transformation. Democratic practices, especially deliberation, allow bringing together different forms of knowledge, which is crucial for the local implementation of principles of social and ecological sustainability. This talk explores what this idea means in more concrete terms, from democratic participation in the workplace to the democratization of time.
Abstract
Over the past decades, markets have conventionally been seen as the best instrument to stimulate economic growth and enhance prosperity and well-being. The automatic link between markets and economic growth is increasingly questioned, however, as well as the automatic link between economic growth and enhancement of well-being. This has led to attempts to capture well-being development more directly than through GDP per capita figures and has produced a more variegated picture of well-being growth. Also, this has led to a shift of focus to other coordination systems than the market, as primarily the state but increasingly also the association. Analyses of the historical record suggest that especially the latter could be a vital component in future well-being.
