A leading academic and member of the University of Aberdeen team competing in the final of a global competition was in Washington DC last week, where he spoke with policymakers about the potential of new carbon capture and utilisation technology developed at the University.
Professor Fled Glasser was at an event organised by the organisers of the NRG COSIA XPRIZE - a competition designed to address CO2 emissions from fossil fuels which offers a share of a $20 million prize to the winners.
He is among a team of academics, formed at the University, who have progressed to the final of the competition as a result of their development of technology capable of taking CO2 and turning it into carbon-negative industry feedstocks and building materials for large-scale use in construction projects, among other uses.
The potential of the technology has been underlined through the creation of a spin-out company - CCM (UK) Ltd - which has been formed by the University to help commercialise the technology.
The Washington DC event - jointly organised by NRG COSIA XPRIZE and The Third Way Foundation - enabled teams attached to US Senators and representatives develop policies on carbon futures.
The summit was opened by Senators Heidi Heitkamp (North Dakota) and Sheldon Whitehouse (Rhode Island), who emphasised the need to ensure that sound scientific and engineering expertise were embedded in environmental legislation.
Commenting on his involvement, Professor Glasser said: “I was delighted to attend the Washington event, which provided an opportunity to showcase the exciting technology that we have developed here in Aberdeen.
“The main purpose of the event was to allow lawmakers who are in the process of devising tax credits and carbon levies the opportunity to learn about new and related technologies from leading experts in the field.
“It is testament to our team’s progress to the final of the XPRIZE that I was invited to take part, which further underlines the progress we have made in developing this technology.”