2 x support for equipment to assist SDU researchers in their climate-related research
More efficient catalysts for PtX and more sustainable images from space and the stratosphere are the goals of the latest grants from SDU Climate Cluster for the purchase of research infrastructure.
SDU Climate Cluster has once again allocated resources to climate researchers at the university. This time, the support is for research infrastructure that can contribute to conducting new, interdisciplinary and climate-related research, which supports SDU Climate Cluster's mission to contribute to climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest.
The two latest grants are for the purchase of the following equipment:
Effective catalysts that can convert sunlight into other forms of energy
Sunlight is a lasting and almost ubiquitous energy source, making it an energy source of interest to researchers seeking new forms of energy that do not emit greenhouse gases. Such future energy forms are called Power-to-X (PtX), and one of the major challenges is to convert solar energy into e.g. fuel for the transport sector.
The researchers behind this project have received support to acquire equipment that can provide them with insights into the properties of newly developed catalysts. This will help the researchers to enhance existing catalysts and develop new catalysts that can become competitive PtX technology.
Project title: Molecules for Electro- and Photo-chemical for Power-to-X Conversion (MEP4P2XC).
Researchers:
- Professor Christine McKenzie, assistant professor Christina Wegeberg and associate professor Steffen Bähring from Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Faculty of Science.
- Professor Morten Madsen and associate professor Vida Engmann from SDU Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics and Energy, Faculty of Engineering.
Sharper and more sustainably produced images from space and the stratosphere
Satellite photos are extremely widespread, and the demand for sharp images of the Earth’s surface is not diminishing. The images from space are e.g. used by researchers and authorities to monitor nature areas, environmental disasters such as oil spills or the movement of glaciers.
However, satellite photos often have the drawback of being energy-intensive to produce: Rocket launches of satellites expel around 1000 tons of black carbon yearly into the stratosphere. Therefore, the researchers behind this project have received support for an imaging system that can be sent up with a balloon and send high-resolution images back down to the Earth. The resolution can be as fine as less than 30 cm. The images and data will be used for environmental and climate research. Sending the imaging equipment up with a balloon instead of a rocket uses much less fuel and is therefore much more sustainable.
The camera equipment will, among other things, take pictures of Denmark's forests and coastline and can specifically zoom in on the vegetation in Svanninge Bjerge to the extent that biologists can distinguish between different types of vegetation in the images. The images can also differentiate between eelgrass and seaweed along Denmark’s coastlines.
Project title: A transformative and sustainable High Altitude Balloon (HAB) platform - for earth observations in co-operation with satellites
Researchers:
- Professor Mads Toudal Frandsen, PhD Student Mads Juul Ahlebæk and scientific assistant Nikolaj Forskov Eriksen from the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Faculty of Science.
- Professor Ulrik Pagh Schultz Lundquist and engineer Oscar Bowen Schofield from the SDU Drone center, Faculty of Engineering.
- Danny Johansen, scientific assistant from the Department of Law, Faculty of Business and Social Sciences.