New PhD projects in SDU Climate Cluster

Five new climate-related research projects at SDU can now start hiring a PhD student as they have received a financial instrument from SDU Climate Cluster.

The mission of SDU Climate Cluster is to contribute to climate neutrality by 2050 through interdisciplinary research. This means a society where no more greenhouse gases are emitted than are absorbed.

SDU contributes to stimulation of interdisciplinary climate research at SDU and in collaboration with society by 2030.

The five PhD projects are:

How can we recycle more of the plastic from the industry?

A significant portion of the 1.5 million tons of waste expected to be incinerated in Denmark in 2023 is plastic. Approximately half of it comes from the industry, and a large part of it is plastic. This project will investigate how that number can be reduced with Odense Municipality as the case study.

- We hope to find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 100,000 tons per year in Odense by 2030, when Odense Municipality aims to be carbon neutral. The methods include avoiding plastic waste and recycling plastic waste, says project supervisor Ciprian Cimpan, associate professor at SDU Life Cycle Engineering.

Other participants include Kristin B. Munksgaard, head of SDU Business School and representatives from Fjernvarme Fyn, Odense Municipality and Odense Renovation.

More climate-friendly proteins for animal feed

Proteins are important components of animal feed. Each year, European countries import 95 percent of their protein consumption, and Denmark is no exception. The researchers behind this PhD project believe that this is economically and environmentally unsustainable. They aim to find new methods to increase the production of raw protein in Denmark. The PhD student will examine extracting protein from clover grass, which is currently used as feed for cattle, horses etc.

- We already grow clover grass in Denmark, and if we can extract protein from it, we can reduce the need for importing raw protein," says one of the project managers, Morten Birkved from SDU Life Cycle Engineering.

The PhD student will also assess the various environmental and climate costs of bringing raw protein production back to Danish fields. The PhD project is co-funded by Green Impro/Innovation Fund.

Other researchers are Benyamin Khoshnevisan from SDU Life Cycle Engineering, TEK and Jamileh Javidpour, Department of Biology, NAT.

How much do our electronic media habits impact the climate?

Most people don't think about it, but every time you surf or stream on your phone or computer, you're actually impacting the climate and the environment, partly because of electricity usage and device turnover.

Calculations show that if a person uses a mobile phone for 2 hours and 24 minutes per day, it causes an annual carbon footprint of up to 3 tons of CO2-eq.

This number needs to be reduced – overall, this hidden pollution should be cut by up to 25 percent, according to the researchers behind this project. They aim to disseminate knowledge to the various target groups that use electronic media, especially young people.

Researchers: Anette Grønning, Department of Media, Design, Education and Cognition, HUM, Morten Birkved, Life Cycle Engineering, TEK, Thomas Kaarsted, Citizen Science, SDU.

Can 3D-printed reefs help marine life and the climate?

The oceans hold enormous potential for restoring the Earth's climate and biodiversity balance. In order to improve conditions for marine ecosystems, the researchers behind this project aim to develop 3D-printed reefs.

Such reefs must be designed in a way that attracts marine flora and fauna; they must have plenty of small hiding places and crevices where micro-environments can thrive. Additionally, they must not harm nature or the climate, meaning they should not affect the ocean's pH levels or emit greenhouse gases.

- The PhD student will likely start designing a material resembling stone, says Roberto Naboni, an associate professor at SDU Civil and Architectural Engineering, TEK and one of the researchers involved in the project. Other researchers include biologists Karl Attard and Cintia Quintana from the Department of Biology, NAT.

How do we make plant-based cheese taste as good as dairy-based cheese?

Many people want to live more sustainably by letting plant-based foods replace meat and dairy, for example.

Plant-based alternatives to milk currently hold a market share of about 15 percent, but when it comes to plant-based cheese the market share is only 1.5 percent.

One issue is that plant-based cheese lacks the same desirable texture and, for example, does not melt when sprinkled on a pizza, according to the researchers behind this project.

With this project, the researchers will use enzyme technology to design cheeses with plant-based ingredients that appeal more to consumers. For every kilogram of dairy-based cheese produced today, 8-16 kilograms of CO2 are emitted into the atmosphere. One kilogram of plant-based cheese contributes 2-4 kilograms of CO2. Approximately 22 million tons of cheese are produced annually.

Researchers: Mathias P. Clausen from SDU Biotechnology, TEK, Davide Giacalone from SDU Innovation and Design Engineering, TEK and Jonathan Brewer from SDU Bioimaging, NAT.