Advance preparations to ensure a successful symposium

The 2022 International Symposium on Carbon Neutrality was co-hosted by UNIST and the Ulsan Free Economic Zone Authority at Gyeongdong Hall in UNIST’s main building on November 10, 2022. Held on the theme of “Plastic Upcycling”, the symposium aimed to introduce the latest research trends and policy landscape in relation to carbon neutrality.
The preparations for the successful hosting of the symposium were carried out for three months from July 2022 in a calm and orderly way. First, a system of cooperation was established between Ulsan Metropolitan City, Ulsan Free Economic Zone Authority, Ulsan Techno Park, and related companies in Ulsan. Everyone pulled together to collaborate on the strategic fundamentals in order to establish Ulsan, a global industrial city, as the domestic hub of carbon neutrality. We accelerated the recruitment of excellent domestic and international researchers in the field of carbon neutrality, the key subject of the symposium. We received recommendations for and recruited researchers who had achieved excellent results in their research on eco-friendly energy recycling, as well as speakers to give presentations on industry-academic research trends related to carbon neutrality. In particular, Standford University professor Steven Chu, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics and former U.S. Energy Secretary, was chosen to deliver the keynote lecture, introduce the symposium’s purpose and theme, and thus mark the start of the symposium, which was expected to attract global attention. Meanwhile, we prepared various programs related to the main theme, including the operation of promotional booths after contacting plastic upcycling companies about the date of the symposium.
As UNIST actively cooperated with various institutions, it was confirmed that researchers from prominent domestic and international universities and energy entrepreneurs would participate in the symposium, and the subjects of the presentations were determined according to the main theme of the symposium. After completing all the preparations, the 2022 International Symposium on Carbon Neutrality got underway with the reception on November 9, and was broadcast and aired online in real time. The YouTube channel of the Ulsan Free Economic Zone Authority broadcast the lectures of each session, making them available to anyone who was interested.

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The hottest and latest research achievements all in one place

The main events of the 2022 International Symposium on Carbon Neutrality were presented in two sessions. The morning session was held under the title “Research on recycling of eco-friendly energy for a sustainable future,” while the afternoon session was held on the theme of “Industry-academic research trends in the era of carbon neutrality.”
The event was inaugurated by Professor Steven Chu with a keynote talk on “Climate Change and Innovative Paths to a Sustainable Future.” Although he was unable to attend the symposium due to an unexpected incident, Professor Chu gave his lecture via a real-time video connection.
Since 2009, when Professor Chu was serving as the U.S. Energy Secretary under the Barack Obama administration, he has supported research on alternative energy and nuclear energy, claiming that “to stop global warming, we must get out of the habit of using fossil fuels.” Prior to that, he conducted successful research on the “development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light” and was a joint winner of the Nobel Prize in physics in 1997.
During his keynote talk, he explained that “climate change is a reality that humanity is already facing, and scientists need to strive to solve this problem,” arousing the interest of many of the attendees. During the afternoon session, Professor Chu also gave a public lecture on the theme of “My Random Walk in Science,” which was attended by UNIST students and prospective scientists. While talking about the path he’s taken, ranging from his childhood fascination with mathematics and physics, to the period when he was involved in fundamental research at Bell Labs, to his growing interest in climate and energy problems, Steven Chu shared his stories with the public, as well as giving advice on the attitude required of a scientist and the fields one needs to be interested in.
In addition, each session consisted of an impressive series of lectures. The morning session included lectures by Dr. Choi Gyeong-sin from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who studies electrochemistry and solar energy conversion, and Dr. Lim Gyu from the State University of New York System, who studies biomass conversion and solar energy. Dr. Choi Gyeong-sin gave a lecture on Electrochemical and Photoelectrochemical Biomass Conversion, while Dr. Lim Gyu gave one on Solar-Driven Chemical Transformation in Renewable Materials. Each lecture was followed by a Q&A session allowing attendees and speakers to communicate with each other and improve their understanding of the issues addressed in the lectures.

• “Climate change is already a reality that humanity faces, and scientists must work to solve this problem.”
  
  Professor Steven Chu
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The afternoon session consisted of presentations on major research trends given by members of Korea’s major research institutes, including UNIST, KAIST, Chung-Ang University, and Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology. In particular, Sean Simpson, a co-founder of LanzaTech, a global leader of gas fermentation technology and new and renewable energy development, gave a lecture.
Mr. Simpson launched the afternoon session with his lecture entitled Enabling a Circular Economy: Carbon-Negative Fuel and Chemical Production by Eliminating Waste. This was followed by presentations by a number of guest lecturers, including KAIST professor Cho Byeong-gwan on “Acetogen microbiological system and synthetic biology technology for conversion of C1 gas to chemical raw materials”; Chung-Ang University professor Yoon Seong-ho on “The current state of technology for producing chemical raw materials from carbon dioxide”, and KRICT researcher Oh Dong-yeop on “The status of bioplastic R&D and industrialization in Ulsan: From mass production to landfill facilities”.
UNIST also presented various research subjects on such themes as “The production of clean hydrogen using waste wood” by Professor Ryu Jungki; “Technology for catalytic chemical conversion of plastics” by Professor Ahn Gwang-jin; and “The production of eco-friendly carbon catalysts-based biofuels and components” by Professor Gwon Tae-hyeok, showing aspects of the industry-academic research conducted by UNIST.

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Carbon neutrality, a promise for the future

In October 2018, following the publication of the Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5 ℃ showing that the temperature of the Earth had risen by about 1 ℃ by 2017 compared to pre-industrial times, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) announced that such a rise was clearly due to human activities. According to the 2021 6th Assessment Report: 1st Working Group Report titled “Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis” published by the IPCC, if global warming proceeds at the current rate, the increase in the global average temperature will exceed 1.5 ℃ between 2021 and 2040. Most experts predict that if it exceeds 1.5 ℃, it will result in numerous disasters such as rising sea levels, the submersion of islands, the destruction of ecosystems, and food crises.
Major global countries are aiming for carbon neutrality by achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions, which are considered to be the main cause of adverse climate conditions. Starting with the EU, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, and Korea have declared their goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 or 2060, and many countries have set 2030 as their greenhouse gas reduction target (Nationally Determined Contributions, NDCs). It has been a long time since carbon neutrality has become a global trend. As for Korea, where manufacturing plays a large role in its entire industrial output, it needs to enhance its industrial competitiveness while realizing carbon neutrality. The 2022 International Symposium on Carbon Neutrality was a valuable occasion to learn more about the direction Korea should follow in order to realize carbon neutrality in the long term. Through effective cooperation with industry, academia and the government, we will continue to make efforts so that future generations will be able to lead sustainable lives in a globalized world.

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