“Advances in the Sciences and Engineering for Mitigation of Global Climate Change” Dr. Dennis Schuetzle – Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer, Chief Science Officer, Greyrock Energy Hosts: D. Michael Heinekey and Robert E. Synovec Greyrock and its partners have developed models during the past 13 years, and assembled meteorological, earth sciences and environmental databases published over the past 50 years, to help predict potential increases in the greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 and N2O) and global temperature increases by year-end 2031. The impact of accelerating secondary climate forcing effects was included in these models such as increases in atmospheric water vapor; anaerobic and aerobic digestion of organic material; reductions in atmospheric and surface radiation reflectivity (albedo); and absorption of CO2 by oceans. These models predict that average global temperatures could reach 2.36 °C (+4.24 °F) by year-end 2031 compared to average global temperatures in 1970. Therefore, inter-disciplinary approaches in the sciences and engineering need to be accelerated to help mitigate these projected, adverse climate changes. This presentation will summarize some of the advances being made by Greyrock and its international partners to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Some of these advances include the invention of novel catalysts and the development of innovative engineering processes to efficiently and economically convert CH4 and CO2 emissions to premium, renewable (low-carbon) fuels and chemicals. Some examples of scientific innovations at the nano-scale (e.g., free radical reactions in catalyst nano-pores, surface chemistry), and engineering advances at the macro-scale (e.g., advanced AI plant process control; plant design; thermodynamics; catalyst manufacturing), will be presented with an emphasis on how inter-disciplinary collaboration between the various disciplines of sciences and engineering are helping to make such climate mitigation advancements possible. Sciences: Organic Chemistry (free radical chemistry; polymer chemistry) Inorganic Chemistry (synthesis of new and improved catalysts) Catalyst Science (development of innovative catalysts) Analytical Sciences (chemical instrumentation; product characterization; process control) Physical Sciences (surface chemistry & physics; chemical kinetics; thermodynamics) Mathematical Sciences (data science, control theory, statistics, artificial intelligence) Environmental Sciences (life cycle modeling; environmental monitoring) Earth Sciences (oceanography; geology; meteorology; climatology) Atmospheric Sciences (atmospheric chemistry; meteorology; climate change) Engineering: Chemical (catalyst reactor design; process control systems; safety) Mechanical (design; manufacturing; structural analysis; operations; life cycle analysis; safety) Computer Science (data science; AI [chemometrics]; mathematics; algorithms) Electrical Engineering (energy systems; control system) Civil & Environmental (site & plant construction; environmental systems; safety) Material Science (materials properties & performance; safety) |