• Question: Do you think that you would be able to solve environmental problems and which ones?

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      Asked by SriLankanAntMan to John, Laura, Luke, Rob, Ruth on 15 Jun 2016.
      • Photo: Laura Finney

        Laura Finney answered on 15 Jun 2016:

        I hope that I am doing my part to solve one or two. That is reducing our reliance on oil for chemistry (as the molecule I use to get my reactions to work is from a plant) and I can also use sunlight for my reactions which is renewable and does not require the electricity from the grid which comes from fossil fuels too.
        I don’t think I can solve it alone though and we will have to use many other peoples ideas along with mine to help solve these issues.

      • Photo: Luke Williams

        Luke Williams answered on 16 Jun 2016:

        As Laura said, reducing our reliance on oil is a key step in the fight against climate change. This is probably the most relevant environmental problem to the catalysis group as we are all about efficiency.

        More widely though, there is potential to help solve water shortages through more efficient industrial processes to use less water and greater recycling of water.

        The depletion of the ozone layer was a key success. The hole has reached its minimum and it is gradually thickening up. I think by 2030-50, something of that order, the ozone layer will be back to its old self.

        The type of problem that science cannot solve is something like overpopulation, which is more of a society based problem rather than a purely scientific one – how many people is too many? What science can do is allow farmers to grow more food, come up with more efficient houses, provide sustainable energy sources, reduce and mitigate waste production. None of those things will say just how many people there should be on our planet.

      • Photo: John Fossey

        John Fossey answered on 16 Jun 2016:

        I answered this once but my answer disappeared – i hope it was not too controversial.

        Whilst science can offer lots of solutions and it is really important to work on them – as we do – think its equally important to solve environmental problems with education and legislation.

        One example – look at how we have very quickly moved to reduce the number of plastic bags in our waste – just charge 5p and most people can find an alternative.

        So in terms of solving environmental problems we should work together across society, many of the problems we face could be addressed if we just wanted to.

        Like many staff at universities I took part in the cycle to work scheme now I cycle to work (even in the pouring rain this morning) . that is a scheme to encourage cycling and reduce car use, simply the scheme allows you to get discount on a new bike and spread the cost. Without the scheme I might never have switched from driving to work.

        from the scientific developments point of view we will always be depleting one resource our reaching capacity of one system or another – we must continually strive to improve our relationship with our environment – trying to mitigate our impact.

        My research includes catalysis and since catalysts lower the energy demand for chemical transformations I hope I can contribute to lessening the environmental impact of energy useage

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