From November 9 to 11, KAIST's Graduate School of Energy, Environment, Water and Sustainability (EEWS) hosted the fourth International Workshop on EEWS  at the Fusion Hall of the KI Building on KAIST's Daejeon Campus. Renowned scholars from around the world gathered for this event to discuss problems associated with energy, environment, water and sustainability. The participants also discussed ways of establishing multi-disciplinary research and education systems at universities to formulate solutions for climate change and to examine pioneering technologies for green energy.

 

On the first day of the workshop, the participants studied the method of Artificial Photosynthesis, which involves capturing carbon dioxide and converting it to renewable energy fuel. Led by Professor Jeung Ku Kang from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering as the chair, one of KAIST's research teams, consisting of the world's preeminent researchers Omar Yaghi, William Goddard, Fraser Stoddart and Lee Cronin, presented its findings on Artificial Photosynthesis which is supposed to serve as a breakthrough for barriers on carbon capture and storage.

 

On November 10, the workshop was devoted to investigating global water shortages. The participants explored a variety of subjects related to water treatment science, including membrane, desalination and physio-chemical treatment. They also had active discussions on promoting more sustainable technologies to resolve severe water shortages. On this day, guests from the Technical University of Denmark, including Kim Dam-Johnsen, Head of Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, also joined the workshop to celebrate the partnership between Korea and Demark, the purpose of which is to encourage global collaboration in innovating sustainable water technologies.

 

The last day of the workshop was centered on "Next Generation Energy Storage." The participants exchanged ideas over future energy storage technologies and paid particular attention to grid scale energy storage and lithium batteries. Along with a presentation by KAIST's research team, Professor Robert A. Huggins from Stanford University and Professor Yasutoshi Iriyama from Shizuoka University delivered lectures on future energy storage devices. Researchers from other academic institutes in Korea such as LG Chemical and ETRI also participated in the workshop on this day to make it a more valuable and productive platform for sharing visions and knowledge.